Children of Darkness
by HarryPotter4Ever-celia
Summary: The second book in the Daughters of Darkness series, this starts where Daughters of Darkness left off and features OCs Clara Bradley and Renee Sanderson navigate life as demigods and witches. Set during canon Harry Potter and Percy Jackson series. K plus for minor language. If you didn't read Daughters, I would appreciate if you go back and read that one first.
1. Character Profiles

_**A/N: Hi all. This is the character profiles for the **_**Daughters of Darkness** _**series, in case you've forgotten who's who. This profile chapter contains the two main characters from before, as well as two canon characters and another OC who will see more action throughout the "Daughters of Darkness" series. If you're seeing this without having read **_**Daughters of Darkness**_**, please go back and click the link in my profile for the first book in this series. Love my readers!**_

* * *

Name: Renee Andromeda Sanderson (Black)

Nicknames: Wren (by Clara), Rebirth (by Draco)

Age: 13, going into 3rd year at Hogwarts (Goblet of Fire canon, right after the Battle of the Labyrinth)

Appearance: sleek, dark brown hair; average height; white

Birth Parents: Aphrodite (goddess of love) and Regulus Black

Adoptive Parents: Annette and John Bradley

Other Family: Clara Bradley (sisterly relationship), Bradley boys (adoptive brothers), other children of Aphrodite (half-siblings), Sirius Black (uncle)

Hogwarts House: Slytherin

Best Friends: Clara Bradley (basically a sister), Harry Potter (like a brother to her), Annabeth Chase, Thalia Grace, Sandra Ballias (oc)

Other Friends: Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Luna Lovegood, Ginny Weasley, Neville Longbottom, Percy Jackson, Draco Malfoy, Daphne Greengrass, Tracey Davis, Lily Moon, Nico di Angelo, Tomasz Ruddernot (oc), Stacy Ballias (oc), Ruby Hampton (oc), Diamond Hampton (oc)

Love Interest: Gill Bellis (oc) - for now

Enemies: Kaylee Parkinson (oc), Morgana Fletcher (oc), Ariana Gordon (oc), Voldemort, Snape, Kronos

Powers: charmspeak, powerful witch, proficiency in Greek and Latin, weirdly good at impersonations, cares intensely about people

Weaknesses: CLARA BRADLEY, impulsive, most likely to reveal something she shouldn't to one world about the other, sometimes tunes out, can be rude without realizing

* * *

Name: Clarissa "Clara" Jeanne Bradley (Malfoy)

Nicknames: Clara (by everyone), Miss Sunshine (by the Apollo cabin and others at Camp Half Blood)

Age: 13, going into 3rd year at Hogwarts (Goblet of Fire canon, right after the Battle of the Labyrinth)

Appearance: wavy, golden hair; on the shorter side, slightly overweight; white

Birth Parents: Apollo (god of the sun) and Narcissa Malfoy

Adoptive Parents: Annette and John Bradley

Other Family: Renee Sanderson (sisterly relationship), Bradley boys (adoptive brothers), other children of Apollo (half-siblings - role model older sister figure for Ruby and Diamond Hampton), Draco Malfoy (half-brother on mother's side)

Hogwarts House: Hufflepuff

Best Friends: Renee Sanderson (basically a sister), Percy Jackson (like a brother to her), Annabeth Chase, Hermione Granger

Other Friends: Ron Weasley, Harry Potter, Luna Lovegood, Ginny Weasley, Neville Longbottom, Clarisse LaRue, Rachel Dare, Nico di Angelo, Cedric Diggory

Love Interest: TBA

Enemies: Kaylee Parkinson (oc), Morgana Fletcher (oc), Ariana Gordon (oc), Voldemort, Kronos, Zacharias Smith

Powers: sunbeams, powerful witch, sometimes has visions of important things in the past or future, can see both sides of every situation, keeps Renee from doing anything rash

Weaknesses: over-reliance on sunbeams, overexertion with sunbeams, craves acceptance, sometimes a little jealous

* * *

Name: Nico di Angelo

Nicknames: TBA

Age: 11, going into 1st year at Hogwarts (Goblet of Fire canon, right after the Battle of the Labyrinth)

Appearance: short, with shaggy, black hair and dark features, white, still growing into himself

Birth Parents: Hades (god of the underworld) and Maria di Angelo

Other Family: Bianca di Angelo (sister, deceased), TBA

Hogwarts House: TBA

Friends: Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase, Clara Bradley, Renee Sanderson, Tony Bradley, TBA

Love Interest: TBA

Enemies: Kaylee Parkinson (oc), Morgana Fletcher (oc), Ariana Gordon (oc), Voldemort, Kronos, King Minos

Powers: can summon the dead, budding wizard

Weaknesses: doesn't believe he can be appreciated by others, doesn't know his own power

* * *

Name: Draco Lucius Malfoy

Nicknames: TBA

Age: 14, going into 4th year at Hogwarts (Goblet of Fire canon)

Appearance: tall, with bright-blonde hair, white, very pale

Birth Parents: Lucius Malfoy and Narcissa Malfoy (nee Black)

Other Family: Clara Bradley (maternal half-sister)

Hogwarts House: Slytherin

Friends: slowly realizing Renee Sanderson is his only true friend right now

Love Interest: TBA

Enemies: he's still figuring it out

Powers: powerful wizard, ability to change

Weaknesses: he's still figuring it out, can be unintentionally rude, can be intentionally rude

* * *

Name: Antonius "Tony" Theodore Bradley

Nicknames: Tony (by everyone), TBA

Age: 10, not about to start Hogwarts (right after the Battle of the Labyrinth)

Appearance: messy/curly, brown hair;

Birth Parents: Annette and John Bradley

Other Family: Clara Bradley and Renee Sanderson (adopted sisters), other Bradley boys (brothers)

Hogwarts House: Who said anything about Hogwarts?

Friends: Ruby Hampton, Nico di Angelo, basically any of his sisters' friends

Enemies: His sisters' enemies, anyone who tries to hurt either of his sisters

Powers: he's still figuring it out, but he's learning a lot from his sisters; cares fiercely about his sisters; makes an effort to understand people

Weaknesses: still young and naive

* * *

_**A/N: The first real chapter should be up within a few days. Enjoy!**_


	2. What Makes a Family

_**A/N: Standard disclaimer, as always. I only own the characters of Renee Sanderson, Clara Bradley, the rest of the Bradley family, Gill Bellis, Kaylee Parkinson, Ariana Gordon, Morgana Fletcher, Sandra Ballias (mentioned), and Tomasz Ruddernot (mentioned). All of the other characters belong to Rick Riordan or J. K. Rowling. The main location, Diagon Alley, also belongs to Rowling.**_

_**Enjoy!**_

* * *

**Renee POV**

As soon as we reached the house after Percy's birthday party, something seemed off. Only one car was in the driveway, but that was completely normal. I knew Annette and John had a faculty meeting at the university, and David had mentioned something about a job interview, so it made sense that only the old, beat up car that the twins used and that Steven would be learning to drive with was at home.

It was also not the fact that the yard was barren; because we had vacationed all of July we had decided not to plant a garden this year. Whatever it was, Clara noticed it too. She tensed and reached for my hand. Nico looked cautiously between us, and Clara extended a sunbeam out to him.

Then it dawned on me. Clara's sunbeam protection on the house was gone. It had been a very faint glow to begin with, but there was no question now that it wasn't there. Clara had her key out and was pulling us to the house before I could think.

"Clara, no, it might be dangerous!"

"My family is inside!" Clara insisted. "My brothers… only Steven knows martial arts. If something happened…"

"Nobody's dead in the house," Nico said. We stared at him for a minute, forgetting he was the son of Hades. "Come on. We're probably the best bet if anyone _is_ there."

I nodded reluctantly and squeezed Clara's hand tighter.

The sight that greeted us in the living room was not at all what we expected. Four of Clara's brothers were there, but only three of them were Bradleys. The fourth was Draco Malfoy, and he appeared to be duct taped to a chair with a piece over his mouth. Ross, Dallas, and Steven were glaring venomously at him.

"What the hell is going on?" I demanded.

"What did you do to Tony?" Clara screamed, looking murderously at Draco.

"Tony's fine," Ross said icily. "We sent him to his room when _he_ showed up."

"What?" I said. "Why?"

"Tony," Steven said, "kept insisting we hear him out. But we know who he is, and there could only be one reason why he's here. Obviously, Clara, he wants to kidnap you and take you back to your mother. He looks too much like you for him to be anyone other than Draco Malfoy, that kid you've said is so horrible at school." Steven looked at Clara with a crazed look in his eye. "Your evil half-brother."

He raised a hand to Draco and stood in a karate stance.

"Did he _say_ that?" Nico said, narrowing his eyes. "Did he _say_ that he wanted to kidnap Clara?"

The older Bradleys stared at him, and at that moment, Tony came barrelling down the stairs. "I told them not to do this!" he insisted. "I told them he wasn't a danger to anyone… is he?"

"Ross," I said venomously. "Draco is not an enemy. Let him explain why he's here, and then we'll decide what to do with him."

"But Clara's always said-" Dallas spoke up.

Clara looked between her brothers. Draco wore a deer-in-the-headlights expression. She seemed to decide that this time, her blond brother was to be trusted.

"Let him go!"

Steven stopped mid-stance. Ross and Dallas looked shocked. Nico and Tony just looked confused.

I took charge of the situation. "Tony, why don't you and Nico go get the air mattress from our room? Nico's going to be staying with us tonight, and I hope you don't mind if he stays in your room."

Tony's eyes lit up, and he motioned for Nico to follow him up the stairs. Steven glared at us. "If crazy death boy is staying with us, then I'm moving in with the twins."

I hoped Nico hadn't heard that, but he and Tony were already making their way upstairs, and Tony spoke loudly to drown out his brother. I'd have to thank him for that later.

"Steven, can you get dinner started?" I asked with charmspeak. "There's some vegetables you can chop up, maybe put that karate energy to good use?"

"Fine," Steven grumbled.

The twins would be the hardest to shake off. I'd have to use even more charmspeak. "Ross, didn't you have some article to work on for the school paper? And Dallas, wasn't there some scholarship or something you were supposed to be working on?"

If the twins knew I had made that up off the top of my head, they didn't show it. They looked at each other, shrugged, and stood up. Clara was already working on ripping the duct tape off Draco, and I surged forward to help.

Draco swore as we ripped the duct tape off his mouth. "Why the _hell_ would Muggles come up with something that sticky? Is it supposed to be a torture device?"

Clara laughed. I narrowed my eyes. "Sorry about our brothers. They're a little overprotective, with the whole Hogwarts thing. But what _are_ you doing here, Draco?"

Draco looked around, as if to make sure nobody was secretly listening. "I had to warn you," he said quickly. "Kaylee…"

* * *

**A few hours earlier - Draco POV**

There were many perks to being a member of the pureblood elite, but dinner at Parkinson Mansions was definitely not one of them. I was dragged along every time and forced to do whatever Pansy wanted while I was in her house. When I was younger, that had meant playing with dolls with her and Kaylee, or occasionally letting them give me a makeover. It was actually kind of comical.

Now, though, Pansy had taken a genuine interest in me. She dragged me up to her room and made me kiss her, often practicing coercive spells when I tried to resist. She always threatened me if I told anyone, and I wouldn't have believed her, except for Kaylee.

When Pansy Parkinson's younger sister had been about seven, she started hanging around with these girls, Ariana and Morgana. They claimed to be American pureblood wizards, cousins with the last names of Gordon and Fletcher. Somehow, they'd gotten the powerful ministry families to believe them, including Father and the Parkinsons, but I wasn't so sure. There was something about them that didn't seem quite _human_. But they were supposedly orphans, and the Parkinsons took them in.

That was when Kaylee started to change. She had been rude before Ariana and Morgana, but after they showed up there was a permanent, evil glint in her eye. Her attitude, and the other girls' influence, only seemed to worsen when she started Hogwarts, a year after Pansy and I did. The same year as Renee Sanderson and Clarissa Bradley, who would come to mean so much to me in the coming years. And the younger Parkinson and her two best friends seemed to have a personal vendetta against my half-sister and her best friend. Even Pansy didn't seem to understand it.

So anyway, we arrived at the Parkinson Mansions, and Pansy, Kaylee, and Ariana greeted us, but Morgana was nowhere to be seen. It was a little unnerving, because Morgana, with her towering height and her stark-white hair, was easily the scariest of the three of them. If she was absent, this couldn't possibly be good for their enemies- my sister and her friends. _My_ friends.

After dinner, Pansy told me she had a couple of messages she had to send, and she was going to get ready for our night. I didn't like the sound of that.

As the adults pulled out the after-dinner Firewhiskey, I made my way up the stairs, ready to do Pansy's bidding once again. I stopped short at Kaylee's room, though, when I heard them reference someone who sounded a lot like Clarissa.

"It wasn't her sunbeams," Morgana was saying. "It was that _boy_. His cast iron sword. _You_ weren't there."

"How can you be sure he's the same one?" Kaylee asked with concern. "How can you be sure he's not some random wizard?"

"Luke's spies at the camp are reliable," Ariana snapped. "You should know this, Kaylee, you've been working with them for as long as he has! They know what happened! Besides, the damage has already been done. Her sunbeam ward was nothing a simple _alohomora_ couldn't crack."

"What did you do?" Morgana's voice said faintly. She sounded weak. "Luke believes we need one of them to enact the prophecy, you know."

Ariana sighed. "It's just fire. Sun will survive. As for the other two…" Ariana made a retching noise. "And as a bonus, your sister will finally have Draco to herself, with love's daughter out of the way."

Kaylee cackled. Before the girls could realize I had heard anything, I slipped into the room that I knew to be the Parkinson library. All I'd need was an old quill or inkwell, or even a book if I couldn't find anything quickly. I'd learned the portkey spell two years ago when I'd been grounded for something our previous house elf did. Apparently, I'd let him escape when he was supposed to be under my watch. But Pansy had managed to score us invitations to Melanie Pucey's party, where there would be Firewhiskey, and I had to get out that night. Melanie was a _seventh_ year, and her brother Adrian from the Quidditch team had always raved about her parties. So I had learned the portkey spell when I needed to get out.

I found a broken inkwell and muttered the incantation. If I didn't get to the girls quickly, my half sister, her best friend, and some random American wizard would die at the hands of Kaylee, Morgana, and Ariana. I'd explain everything to my mother later, and hopefully she would cover for me. It was, after all, her daughter I was going to save.

* * *

**Present Day - Draco POV**

Of course, I left a few details out when I told the girls my story. I didn't, for instance, mention the part about Pansy having me all to herself, as if I was a commodity to be passed around. I was still trying to figure out what Ariana had meant by "love's daughter," but I was pretty sure that was Renee. I also wasn't sure what they meant by "sun," but I _had_ noticed Clarissa surrounded by beams of light sometimes, and once, in Care of Magical Creatures, I had seen her seemingly holding something that she was going to throw at me.

That was before. Before I knew she was my sister. Before Renee had shown me another path I could start to take. Before she told me she cared, before we started talking in the foyer between the boys' and girls' hallways, before she became my _rebirth_. I wanted to believe I truly _had_ changed. Would the Draco Malfoy from last summer have created a portkey to a country where he'd never been to save two girls he didn't even know that well? I doubted it.

* * *

**Clara POV**

Renee pulled Draco into a hug. "I'm not the only one who should have been sorted into Gryffindor," she whispered. "That was so, so brave, Draco."

"No," I argued. "That was an act deserving of all the houses. It was brave and a little bit reckless, like a Gryffindor. It was extreme loyalty, like a Hufflepuff. Coming here, escaping the Parkinson Mansions, that was definitely cunning and ambitious, the mark of a Slytherin. And you really figured out the portkey charm when you were _twelve_? That's definitely Ravenclaw, Draco." I looked at the ground.

"I'm sorry I misjudged you, Draco. When I first saw you, a few weeks after meeting my mother for the first time, you made fun of Ginny and Harry in Flourish and Blotts. A couple months later, you set a snake on one of my housemates when we were supposed to be learning to disarm each other. The next year, you insulted Ron on the train, and you laughed over Harry fainting with the dementors, but _you_ weren't there. You made fun of Hagrid, and then you nearly got him _fired_ after day one."

Draco started to interrupt, but I wasn't finished. "But you let Renee take your place at Quidditch. You came and visited her in the hospital wing. You found out about me, and instead of spreading the rumor in a harmful way, or hurting someone for information, you sent us chocolate and asked us to meet with you in a nonthreatening situation. You warned Renee when Snape was looking for her after the Hogsmeade incident. You wrote to the Committee on Hagrid's behalf. And the whole time, I believed you did it because you _wanted_ something from us. But now you're here, and Draco, I'm so, so sorry. It wasn't very Hufflepuff of me to believe that you hadn't, that you _couldn't_ change."

I stepped over to him. "Hi. I'm Clarissa Jeanne Bradley, but you can call me Clara. All my friends, and all my brothers, call me that."

Draco looked confused for a minute, and then he seemed to get it. "Are you… are you willingly calling me your brother? And your friend?"

I laughed. "I suppose I am. But only here, okay? In the company of those who know we're related."

"I wouldn't dream of telling anyone else." He turned serious. "Do you have a way we can communicate with my… with our mother? I should tell her where I am; she must be worried."

I frowned, but Renee spoke up. "I still have a few of those Egyptian communication coins from the Weasleys."

I frowned. I knew she had used that lie with Sandra, Gill, and Tomasz that night where she needed to come into the Hufflepuff room after an attack from Kaylee and her friends. But I had no idea that Draco knew about the drachmas as well. Renee pulled one from her pocket.

"I'm really sorry about my brothers," I said loudly, realizing I needed something to distract Draco while she sent the message. Renee smiled in my direction. "They're not usually like that. And yeah, I never did tell them that you weren't evil. I mean, I don't think I said you were _evil_, but, I, well-"

I was saved from any further awkwardness as Narcissa's voice spoke through the Iris message. "Well, well, well. Renee Sanderson. This is a surprise. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

Draco stepped up to the message. "Mother, I'm sorry I left, I had to warn them, I-"

"Draco?" Narcissa said incredulously. "Are you in _America_?"

Draco told our mother what he had overheard. "She's my sister," he insisted. "Mother, I had to warn her."

"Wow, Draco, I don't know what to say. I'm very proud of you, my son." Narcissa lowered her voice. "Please don't come home tonight, Draco. Your father, he's angry, and I don't want him to hurt you. Give him a chance to cool down. He's upset because Pansy interrupted a very important conversation to say that you tried to do something to her in her bedroom and then you ran away so you wouldn't take the blame. I saw through it immediately, of course, but your father and the Parkinsons are furious. If there's a way for you to stay in America tonight-"

"Of course there is!" I insisted. "He's family. I'm not going to turn him away at the door! What kind of sister would I be?"

I had no idea who was more shocked by my outburst. Draco stared at the ground while Narcissa floundered for words. Even Renee looked surprised.

"We were going to go to England tomorrow anyway," I continued. "We can take Draco back. Maybe we can meet you at Diagon Alley?"

"That's very kind of you, Clarissa, but are you sure? I wouldn't want to be a burden on your family."

"You _are_ my family," I said without thinking. "You and Draco, just as much as the Bradleys. Besides, we already have Nico staying over tonight, what's one more? The four of us can travel to Diagon Alley tomorrow."

"I'll get the Knight Bus from there," Draco agreed.

"If you're sure," Narcissa said, looking at me.

Outside, a car horn sounded. I wasn't looking forward to explaining the presence of two strange boys to my parents, but if the alternative was Draco being severely punished, I would gladly take the explanation.

"We need to go," I said. "The rest of the family are coming in, and I believe we have some introductions to make."

I waved my hand over the message just as the door opened. Somehow, David and my parents had come in at exactly the same time. A minute later, Tony, Ross, and Dallas came down the stairs, with Nico trailing nervously behind them. Steven poked his head out of the kitchen and narrowed his eyes when he saw Draco sitting on the couch.

"What is _that_ still doing here?"

Draco reached for his wand, but Renee put a hand on his shoulder. "Everyone, sit down," she said, taking command of the situation. "Some stuff has come up since we went to Percy's party. These are two people we've talked about before, so you should know who they are. They'll both be coming with us to England tomorrow, but they need a place to stay the night." She introduced Nico first. "We only recently found out he's a wizard, but he doesn't have anywhere to stay the night."

Tony moved closer to Nico on the couch. "He's my friend," my youngest brother said. "We already decided he could stay in mine and Steven's room tonight."

"Who's 'we?'" Steven snapped. "Anyway, I'm staying in with the twins. He's-"

I cut him off with a look. I wouldn't have Steven insulting my friends.

I looked over at Draco. "This is my brother," I said firmly. "From the wizard world. Draco Malfoy."

"So you're just going to accept him here?" Steven demanded. "Even though he came to _kidnap_ you? Even though he wants to get rid of you?"

"I don't know where you're getting that idea," I protested. "Draco, tell them why you're here."

Draco repeated his story about Kaylee. "Do you see any reason for me not to believe him?" I demanded after he had finished his account. "Was all that duct tape _really_ necessary?"

Draco made a face at the mention of the duct tape.

Ross looked at the ground. "I'm sorry. We really should have figured out the whole story before jumping to conclusions."

"That wasn't very objective of us," Dallas agreed. "Not a great start to our journalism career."

Draco smiled, and it was a real, genuine smile. I'd only ever seen that from him once before.

"I forgive you," Draco said. "A strange teenage boy comes into your house and you've heard he's not a good person. I would have done the same thing. Well, maybe not with something as horrible as duct tape, but something similar."

He looked between Ross and Dallas. "Journalism, huh? Well, just as long as you don't turn out like that awful Rita Skeeter."

I shook my head. Tonight was kind of like last Christmas, I realized. There were people here from all three of my lives, and somehow, everyone fit together like a puzzle where I was the final piece.

* * *

That night, we had a board game night, as was tradition before we left to Hogwarts every year. Renee offered to team up with Draco for Scattergories, because "being a wizard, he wouldn't know a lot of the Muggle references."

"Yeah," Tony argued. "But Nico's, like, three hundred years old. If Renee gets Draco, then I get him on my team!"

"Hey!" Nico protested, with a glance around the room. Aside from Tony, only Renee and I knew about the age thing. But surprisingly, Nico was smiling. "Alright, I'll join you, but only because you asked so nicely."

"Well, if you get Nico, and you get Draco, then I guess I get the twins," I said. "That should be fair."

"I call David," Steven spoke up.

My parents exchanged a glance. "This is _not_ how the game is supposed to be played," Annette said. "But if you insist, I guess I'll have to take John as my partner.

It was the best night I'd had with my family in quite a while. I knew I would look back on this night for years to come, as the night my family was finally all together. What I didn't know, though, was just how important the memory would become.

* * *

The next evening, Draco, Nico, Renee, and I departed by way of a portkey to Diagon Alley. The time difference would give us plenty of time to shop around the Alley before evening in London, when Draco would take the Knight Bus back to Malfoy Manor, and Renee, Nico, and I would use Floo Powder from the Leaky Cauldron to get to the Burrow. The day after that, we would be picking Harry up from the Dursleys, and then we would go to the World Cup.

The plan was for us to split up at Gringotts, and we would do our own shopping. However, I was in such a close discussion with my brother that we felt we sort of needed to stick together.

Chiron had provided us with one and a half times the money he gave us last time, in order for us to include Nico in our vault. While Renee and Nico went to exchange the Muggle currency and change the vault name, Draco and I talked about how different our lives were, and yet how similar. We both, for instance, enjoyed family game nights, although Draco only played wizard games, and the Bradleys played Muggle games. I knew Draco's family was rich, and ours was on the lower side of middle class, but we really did have a lot in common.

"You could use our vault, you know."

I stared at Draco. "Use _your_ vault?"

"Yeah? Why not. You're a Malfoy. I mean, you're my sister, and-"

"Draco," I cut him off. "Ours is fine."

Renee seemed to be arguing with one of the goblins, and Nico looked like he was trying to get my attention. I sighed. "If you'll excuse me," I said to Draco. "This might take a few minutes. Why don't you get your money out."

Draco nodded and we parted ways. I walked over to the booth where my friends were.

"What's up?"

"_Vilnuk_, here," Renee said sourly, "is trying to insist that my vault needs investigation, because of a mysterious transaction from a vault that they've been monitoring, but he won't tell me the name of the vault."

"Circumstances being as they are," Vilnuk said, "we have reason to believe Miss Sanderson, if that is indeed your name, has been engaging in some illicit transactions to her vault."

"I haven't been!" Renee insisted. "I don't know anything about these transactions!"

I closed my eyes. If only my father would send me some sort of vision right now, that would be great. But everything in my mind was black.

And, I realized, that was it. "If you'll excuse us," I said to the goblin. I pulled Renee over to the bench where Draco and I had been talking a few moments prior.

"Sirius left you a stipend," I muttered.

"Why didn't he tell me?"

"No idea, but that's what I got. So it will get out that you're helping him-"

"Not if I can help it." Draco was back.

I glared at him. "How much did you hear?"

"Enough. I don't know what's going on, but if you're helping Sirius Black there must be some gallant and noble reason behind that. I _do_ have reason to believe you helped him escape that night in June."

Renee scowled at him. "Shut up, Draco."

Draco smiled. "Be like that. But I could offer help. My family is a rich and powerful pureblood family. We have influence here. If Sirius Black truly did transfer money to you, I can find a way to explain that to the goblins." He stood up. "You two stay here, while I work my magic."

Renee started to protest, but I silenced her with a look. "He offered to let us use his vault," I said. "Let him try it, Wren."

Renee raised her eyebrows, but nodded for Draco to go ahead. I watched as he pulled Nico to the side and had a hurried, whispered conversation with the younger boy. Then he sauntered up to Vilnuk and spoke in a low voice that we couldn't hear. A minute later, he walked back to us, Nico on his heels.

"Miss Malfoy," the goblin announced. "I am so very sorry. I did not realize you were a Malfoy as well. Of course you may proceed to Vault Half Blood."

"_That_ was your grand plan?" Renee snapped at Draco. "Tell the whole world-"

"It will be fine," Draco said quickly, stealing a glance at the goblin.

Renee gulped, and I remembered how crazy the ride had been the last time. She hadn't even come.

"You three can wait out here, if you want."

"I want to come," Nico said. "I love the underground." He glanced warily at Draco.

"Okay, then, let's go."

* * *

**Renee POV**

A black boy walked up to the counter a few minutes after Clara and Nico left. "I'd like to access the Bellis vault," the kid said, presenting a key.

"Gill!"

Gill turned around. "Renee!" My boyfriend ran toward me. He stopped short when he saw Draco, though.

"What is _he_ doing here?"

"Getting money," Draco said icily, coming up behind us. "It's a public bank."

"Yes, but why was he sitting next to you?"

"Is there another bench?" Draco said coolly.

"You were talking, though."

"I had a question about the summer Care of Magical Creatures homework," Draco said quickly. "Crabbe, Goyle, and Pansy didn't know how to answer it, and I haven't seen anyone else all summer. I just wondered if Renee could help me distinguish a Bowtruckle from a common fern."

"That's so stupid," Gill said meanly. "Anyone should know those basic distinctions. Only a mudblood-"

"Don't you _dare_ use that word! Gill Bellis, I thought you were better than that!"

"_He_ uses it, yet you still talk to _him_!"

"Gill," I sighed. "I'm a half-blood, and I didn't know the answer to that before I did the homework. I was just telling Draco that it's at the back of the book, or he could talk to Hagrid or Sprout for further information."

Gill muttered something under his breath. "Just… be careful, Renee." He glared at Draco.

Thankfully, I noticed Clara and Nico coming back from the tunnels.

"Oh," Clara said, oblivious. "Gill. Nice to see you again."

"Clara, hey," Gill said, showing no sign that he'd just argued with Draco. While Clara introduced Nico, Draco whispered, "meet you at Ollivander's in ten minutes." Then, he left out a back door.

* * *

**Nico POV**

I don't know if I'd be here if I hadn't met my father. Why Lord Hades encouraged me to go to Hogwarts, I have no idea. But I've figured out a lot about myself over the last few months. I now know that Percy needs to bathe in the River Styx and take a mark of Achilles to be able to defeat Kronos. I've read a lot in the last few weeks too. I pored over many of the old myths. My father and my stepmother aren't happy with all of my investigating, and Lord Hades claimed I need to get out more and that being in the Underworld so much wasn't good for my health. But what does he know about health? He's the god of the _Underworld_.

We went to the bank, and I actually enjoyed being underground again and seeing the vaults. Gringotts modeled some of my father's wealth chambers in the Underworld. I wondered briefly whether this was on purpose.

I saw something of myself in Clara's brother, Draco. He had obviously had a troubled past, like me, and he had secrets, that was obvious. I would never admit it to anyone, but he was also kind of cute. But I could tell there was tension between the siblings as well. I wondered what their mother was like.

Clara and Renee were both really excited for me to get my wand. Apparently, this was a big deal in this world. Draco had slipped out a back door while Renee and Clara talked to a black boy who I gathered to be Renee's boyfriend. There was something I didn't like about him. But Draco was waiting for us at the wand shop, Ollivander's.

The door to the shop swung open, and the professor who was apparently a daughter of Demeter stepped out, followed by a black girl with golden eyes and frizzy, cinnamon-brown hair. The professor smiled warmly when she saw Clara, Renee, and me, and she raised her eyebrows at Draco, but didn't say anything.

The girls ran to hug their favorite professor, and she looked around before introducing the girl she was with. "This is Hazel Levesque," the professor said. The girl waved shyly. She looked almost familiar, but I had definitely never met her before.

I looked around uncomfortably while the girls caught up with their teacher. I had thought I would finally get a day about me, but I was wrong. I would still always be a minor character in the stories of everyone else.

Draco seemed to notice my discomfort. "We can go ahead and go in, if you want," he said.

The older woman raised her eyebrows again, but went back to talking to Clara and Renee. I looked back at the girl, Hazel. She looked slightly older, but I assumed she was a first year, because she was with a teacher.

"I just got my wand," the girl said. "That was an interesting process."

"Should I be nervous?" I asked, frowning.

"Only if you don't like loud noises. You should be fine, though." She smiled, and I immediately liked her. Maybe we could be friends.

_Friends_. That was a foreign concept to me. Before I learned about demigods, I only had Bianca. And then she died, and I was completely alone. But Percy, Clara, Renee, and Annabeth had shown me kindness when nobody else would give me a chance, when I didn't even give myself a chance. And then Clara's brother, Tony, had said it outright. "He's my _friend_." But what did that word actually mean?

The shopkeeper, Ollivander, frowned when Draco walked into the shop. I wondered if Ollivander had had bad history with Draco or his family. It seemed like a lot of people did.

"Mr. Malfoy, isn't it?" Ollivander said, looking up. "Nearly destroyed my shop when I said this could take a while. I knew you had a bendy wand, but I'm surprised to see you back so soon."

I had been hiding in the shadows. This wand shop was a perfect place to practice bending them. I stepped into the light.

Draco wavered for a minute, but then seemed to regain his composure. "Actually, sir, I'm here with a first year student, the cousin of a friend of mine. This is Nico di Angelo."

Ollivander's eyes rested on me. He looked at Draco again, then back at me, and then nodded slowly.

"Well, then, Mr. di Angelo. Let's get started."

* * *

After about half an hour of trying wands that didn't work or made things explode, Draco and Ollivander were exchanging worried glances when they thought I wasn't looking. Clara and Renee were watching from the window, their expressions growing increasingly unhappy. Clara held Dede the dodo bird, the one from Pan's underground hideout. I assumed the bird was humming some melancholy tune like always.

It made me mad. For a moment, I was sure I could actually have a place to fit in. Clara, Renee, and the professor might have been demigods _and_ witches, but I certainly wasn't a wizard. They had to realize their mistake by now. If Clara had been pranking me, I would make sure she saw the Underworld firsthand.

"Mr. Malfoy," Ollivander said, startling both of us. "If you go to my office in the back, there's a few wands on the top shelf. Bring me the box made of obsidian, please."

Draco raised his eyebrows, but it was clear he wanted to see me succeed, so he walked to the back of the store.

Draco came back, and the box looked heavy. Ollivander frowned as he took the box out of Draco's hands.

He held the deep black wand in his hands for a moment before passing it on to me. "Well," the wandmaker said slowly. "Give it a wave."

I moved the wand around a little bit. It was heavier than most of the other wands I had tried, but it felt right in my hands.

Black roses bloomed from a jar, and Draco gasped. "Oh!" It was almost as if the older boy was piecing something together. Ollivander looked far more pale than he had a few moments ago.

"My entire career as a wandmaker, I have not sold a single wand with a thestral tail core," the shopkeeper muttered. "I do not use them; the wands are left over from my father or grandfather's days as wandmakers." He paused, thinking. "Today, for the first time in living memory, I sold two of them. Curious, very curious indeed."

Ollivander seemed lost in thought as I paid for my wand. Just before I stepped out the door, Draco asked who the second person was.

"I really shouldn't tell you, Mr. Malfoy, as this information is supposed to be confidential. But I believe you have already figured it out. The other customer was, of course, Miss Hazel Levesque, who left the shop just a few moments before you came in."

Draco nodded curtly, and he held the door open for me. Clara and Renee stared, and I wondered if Draco had acted like this toward anyone before. Like an older brother, I guess. For the first time since Bianca died, I smiled.

* * *

****Renee POV****

"Nico, we need to get you out of all this _black_," I said as we walked into Madam Malkin's robe shop.

Nico laughed nervously, and Draco looked curiously at us.

"Come on," Clara said. "The three of us should get our robes tailored, we've each grown at least two inches. And Nico, you should get fitted."

Draco's eyes wandered over to some of the dressier clothing. He looked between me and Clara, and then his eyes settled on me. "Renee, will you come with me for a moment?"

I shrugged. While Clara and Nico waited in line to get the robes fitted, I followed Draco to some of the suits. "What's this about?" I asked.

Draco smiled mysteriously, in a way that signified he knew something I didn't. He had an infuriatingly adorable smile.

"Fourth years are asked to bring dress robes," Draco explained. "You have an eye for fashion, Renee. I was wondering if you could help me pick one out."

This was a ridiculous request. I was tempted to argue, but Draco looked so serious.

"Go for dark," I said. "Nothing too bright, or that would clash with your hair."

"So, like this?" Draco held up a set of deep purple robes.

I studied them. "No. Too flashy. Try these."

"Red?" Draco groaned. "I'm a Slytherin, Rebirth, not a blasted Gryffindor!"

I smiled. "What about this?" Draco asked, holding a bright green suit.

"Again, it's too much."

Draco muttered something about me sounding like his mother. I held back a laugh.

At the same moment, we both noticed a navy blue three-piece suit with tiny, faint stars in a pattern on the jacket. We reached for it at the same time.

"Oh!" I gasped as our hands brushed against each other.

"Do you think…?" Draco asked.

"It's perfect."

"My Rebirth."

"Not here."

"Okay."

"Okay."

Clara glanced in our direction, and we self-consciously realized our hands were still touching over the jacket. We both pulled away quickly.

"It's perfect," I said again.

"You're perfect."

"What?"

Draco blushed. "Sorry. Thank you, Rebirth."

"Don't call me that."

"Thank you."

Clara rolled her eyes. "Are you two finished?" She looked between us, amused.

Nico and Draco went over to pay for their robes, and Clara raised her eyebrows at me. "What was that about?"

"Just helping him pick out dress robes."

"Okay, then."

We stopped to buy books and potions supplies, and then Draco offered to treat everyone to ice cream at Florean Fortescue's. I was surprised that we didn't really see anyone else we knew.

We met up with Professor Sprout and Hazel again at the ice cream place. As we talked and got to know the first-year girl, I almost had the urge to reach out and touch her. Something about her seemed semisolid and faded.

The girl held a black cat. "His name is Sammy," she said, stroking the cat.

"Where did you get him?" Nico seemed genuinely interested.

"Magical Menagerie," Hazel said, pointing over to the right.

Clara smiled at me. We'd had interesting experiences there every year in the past. After we finished our ice cream, she and Nico went over to the pet shop. I had thought Nico would return with something small, like a cat, but when they came back, he was carrying a very large owl cage. It held a large black screech owl.

"Bianca," Nico said firmly when we asked about the name. "Her name is Bianca."

It was getting late, and the Weasleys would be expecting us. Draco summoned the Knight Bus from the Leaky Cauldron. While we were waiting, he asked me to step into a corner with him.

"Thank you, Renee. My Rebirth."

"For what?"

"So, so many things. I'm going to try harder this year, okay? I've actually been writing to Daphne and Blaise a bit too, and, well, I apologized for some of my earlier behavior. They're willing to give me a chance. And really, Rebirth, it's all because of you. It's all because _you_ gave me a chance. You showed me I can change, and that I don't have to be my father. And I promise, I will try so, so hard not to be him, okay? I want you to see that I _have_ changed."

I sighed. "Draco, Clara and I are both infinitely grateful for what you did yesterday. Clara's apology to you, well, I believe that more than anything shows that you truly _have_ made the first step. She was unwilling, before you saved our lives, to think you could be anyone other than your father. But you changed _her_ view, and that speaks volumes. She is willing to see you as a brother. We are both willing to see you as a true friend. I'm the one who should be thanking _you_, Draco."

The Knight Bus pulled up to the tavern, and Draco put his arms around me. "I'll see you at the World Cup, my beautiful and talented Rebirth."

We hugged tightly for just a moment longer than we should have. I thought I was finally starting to understand why he called me his Rebirth.

And his fresh pine cologne smelled so, so good.

* * *

_**A/N: Well, I definitely didn't plan to write **_**this** _**much for my first Children of Darkness chapter, but I'm glad I did. Now I feel like a weight is lifted from my shoulders and I will be able to focus better on school because I wrote this Diagon Alley scene. I think writing on the weekends is actually going to work for me, at least until things pick up. It might be a little while before the next chapter, though, because I'll probably wait to start writing it until I have my own copy of **_**Goblet of Fire** _**with me, which will be a couple of weeks.**_

_**Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it. I am looking forward to continuing the saga. Please review!**_

_**~Celia**_


	3. Floo Powder, Strange Powers

_**A/N: Standard disclaimer: All characters and setting belong to J.K. Rowling, except for my original characters Clara Bradley and Renee Sanderson, and Nico di Angelo, who belongs to Rick Riordan. I am making no profit from this story.**_

_**Enjoy the chapter!**_

_**~Celia**_

* * *

**Renee POV**

"Nico, there's something you should know," I said before we walked into the fire. "The family we'll be staying with, the Weasleys, they don't exactly get along with the Malfoys."

Clara laughed nervously. "_That's_ the understatement of the century."

I ignored her. "It would be best if you didn't let on that we were with Draco today. Only Harry's starting to accept my friendship with him, and I'm not sure if Ron, Hermione, and Ginny even realize he and I are close. Harry, Ron, and Hermione know he's Clara's brother, but at this point, nobody else does, okay?"

Nico nodded. "Yeah, I kind of figured that Draco might not be the world's most liked person, just based on the reactions we got today." Nico looked at the ground. "Are you friends with him because he's Clara's brother?"

Clara looked away. "Not exactly," I said. "It's a long story."

Clara pulled out a jar of bright green powder, and Nico's eyes went wide. "Is that Greek fire?"

I shook my head, but then I wondered for a moment. I'd never actually bothered to ask what went into Floo Powder. "It's a wizard transportation powder. You just sprinkle some in the fire and say where you want to go."

"I'll go first," Clara said. "And you two can follow." She took a pinch from the jar and sprinkled it onto the fire. Then, she jumped in. "The Burrow!" Clara yelled. For a moment, Nico looked horrified.

"So we jump into the fire? Are you sure that's safe?"

I nodded. "We've used it before, at home and at Camp Half-Blood. Even Muggles can go through if you set everything up with the right precautions. Mr. and Mrs. Bradley and David used it once." Of course, Nico didn't need to know the reason for this. Entering the wizard world was scary enough on its own _without_ having to worry about the Chamber of Secrets. We'd tell Nico about Voldemort when we needed to, but now was not the time.

"Okay," Nico said. "Can we go together?"

"Of course." I stepped into the fireplace and offered the younger boy my hand. Nico shook his head and looked at the ground. He stepped in without taking my hand.

"On the count of three," I said. "Then we'll say, 'the Burrow!' Nice and clear now, okay? A couple years ago Harry landed far away from his destination, it was awful. Well, it could have been much worse, but-"

"Renee, did you know sometimes you talk too much?"

I smiled. "Sorry, Nico. Are you ready?"

The boy nodded. "One," I said. "Two. Three." I threw a pinch of the Floo Powder into the fire and we both shouted, "The Burrow!"

* * *

I slid from the grate with a _woosh_. A moment later, Nico followed me, and I breathed a sigh of relief. Travelling by Floo Powder could be scary at times, and there was a lot of potential for things to go wrong. We joined Clara at the foot of the fireplace, wiping off soot.

I looked around. We were in a small living room with mismatched, but cozy-looking furniture. There was a loud _MEOW!_ as Hermione's giant orange cat, Crookshanks, chased something small and fast down the stairs. My own cat, Princess, bounded after him.

"Crookshanks, NO!" Ron yelled, chasing the cats and the fluttery thing into the room we were in.

"Impedimenta!" Hermione yelled. "Seriously, Ron, it's time you learn to control that owl."

"It's not my fault that those cats are crazy! I just happened to open the door a little too much when I was feeding him!"

I could feel myself grinning. It was good to be back, with Ron and Hermione teasing each other once again. I wondered where everyone else was.

Hermione and Ron ran into the living room, where the cats and the tiny owl were now frozen in their positions. From somewhere upstairs, Percy yelled something about needing to concentrate and cauldron bottoms, and I could hear Fred and George laughing. "Shut up, Perce," one of the twins said, although without seeing them in front of me I couldn't tell who.

Ron freed his owl. Both he and Hermione smiled when they saw us. Clara had written to Ron to tell him about Nico, so they knew we would have a third person with us. Hermione ran to Clara and pulled her into a hug. Ron stood there awkwardly.

"Oh, come on, Ronald! You can hug your friends," Hermione scolded. Ron looked sheepish and pulled me into a hug as well. Then Hermione came over to me, and Ron made his way to Clara.

"You must be Nico," Hermione said kindly to our third companion.

Nico looked at the ground. "This is Hermione," I said. "And Ron. We wrote to tell them you were coming."

Nico nodded and looked away. Hermione raised her eyebrows. "Later," I mouthed while Nico wasn't looking. Hermione only nodded.

Ron's mother, Mrs. Weasley, had appeared while we were catching up with our friends. "Ah, Renee and Clara! Lovely to see you, we were just wondering when you'd get in."

She came over to hug us, and I grinned. After Professor Sprout and Sirius, Molly Weasley was easily one of my favorite adults and role models in the wizard world.

* * *

"Floo powder?" I asked at dinner. "Are you sure that's safe?" Arthur Weasley had just explained the plan for how we were going to collect Harry tomorrow. After everything I'd heard about the Dursleys, I didn't know if that was really a good idea, to have four wizards burst through a fireplace in a Muggle home. I mean, Clara and I did it all the time, but the Bradleys were _used_ to it. The Dursleys, on the other hand…

"Did you even tell Harry that's what you're doing?" Clara asked.

"Er," said Ron. "We, uh, hadn't quite gotten the details worked out yet when I wrote him."

"Then I'm coming too. I'm a very persuasive person, you know." Only half the people present knew about the demigod stuff, and I wasn't planning on revealing that to Percy, Charlie, Bill, Molly, or Arthur at the moment. But I could at least say that.

"Me too," said Clara. "You'll want someone who knows how to deal with Muggle families. I'm the best candidate there."

Ron looked quizzically between her and Hermione, but I had figured out what Clara was trying to do. It seemed Hermione had as well. I'd confirm it later tonight, when we would all be sleeping in Ginny's room, but I suspected she wanted us to be able to have a plan B and make a quick getaway if the Floo Powder didn't work.

* * *

Most of the time, when I had demigod dreams, I remembered them almost exactly. I knew I had them less frequently than many of my friends, and Clara and Percy seemed to get them more than even most demigods. But somehow, I only remembered a few snippets of this one.

There had been an old man, that I was sure of. I had no idea who he was. As for the other people, I remembered two of my enemies. Wormtail was there, I thought, that piece of filth responsible for my uncle's wrongful imprisonment for the last twelve years. And the second person, well, I guess he hadn't actually been a _person_… had he?

I struggled to remember some of the details.

_"It could be done without Harry Potter, my Lord. And the traitor, that's only to strengthen the potion. You do not need Renee Sanderson."_ That was Wormtail's voice.

"_Without Harry Potter and Renee Sanderson?"_ Voldemort's cold voice said. _"I see… "_

_"My Lord, I do not say this out of concern for the pair!"_ Wormtail protested in a squeaky voice. _"They are nothing to me, nothing at all! It is merely that if we were to use another witch or wizard - any wizard - the thing could be done so much more quickly!"_

Voldemort had questioned Wormtail's loyalty, and the latter had been uncomfortable, had protested about how well protected Harry and I were. And Voldemort had killed someone, had sounded proud of it… then he had killed the old man, the one who was just listening in, the defenseless Muggle… he had a plan to kill even more people… something to do with me and Harry… and _Harry_, he had been there too. In the same way that Clara talked about sharing dreams with Percy, I sensed Harry's dream self in the background. So maybe this wasn't a demigod dream, then… maybe this was something else entirely.

I looked around Ginny's room. There was a tiny "S"-shaped birthmark on my neck, and I had never really noticed it before, but right now, it stung. It was almost as if it was connected to the dream, somehow. I shuddered and ran my hand over the birthmark. For some reason, I thought about my father, and the vision I'd had when the dementors showed up. I wondered idly how it could all be connected.

I decided to step outside, maybe catch a glimpse of Apollo's chariot as the sun came up. I tiptoed out of the room and out to the garden.

In the dim morning light, I could see Crookshanks and Princess chasing the garden gnomes. Suddenly, Nico stepped out of the shadows, coming from the edge of the yard.

"What are you doing, Nico? It's five in the morning."

Nico shuffled his feet a little bit. "I was, uh, taking a walk," he muttered.

I decided not to press the issue. The kid was kind of weird, and I knew that. He was allowed to have his secrets. I didn't think he was doing anything dangerous or stupid, even after this summer, so I let him be.

* * *

As Clara and I were the only ones who had worked with a Floo Network to a Muggle location, we helped Arthur make sure everything was as secure as possible. I debated sending an Iris message to Harry around 5:00, when we still had some final tweaking to do, but Clara thought it would probably freak out the Dursleys even more. I remembered my first Iris Message, as well as some of my friends' reactions to my head showing up in their dorms in the middle of the night, and I thought she was probably right.

"Number Four, Privet Drive," Arthur Weasley said, stepping into the fireplace. Fred and George followed suit, and then Ron did the same. Clara took my hand, and we repeated the address as well.

My feet slammed into the back of Ron's neck. "Ow!"

Why was this taking so long? It never took this long at home. I thought about what Draco had warned us about, and I wondered if Kaylee could have damaged the fireplace at the Dursleys' as well.

I heard a strangled yell from the other side of the wall, and then a woman's voice in hushed tones.

The Weasleys jostled each other and argued a bit. "Hang on," Clara said. "Maybe Harry can hear us."

Mr. Weasley, Fred, and George banged on the wall. "Harry? Harry, can you hear us?"

"What is this?" The man's voice growled. "What's going on?"

I could just imagine Harry trying not to laugh as he explained Floo powder to his aunt and uncle.

"Mr. Weasley, can you hear me?" Harry asked.

"Shh!" George said.

"Mr. Weasley, it's Harry. The fireplace has been blocked off. You won't be able to get through there."

"Damn!" Mr. Weasley said. "What on earth did they want to block up the fireplace for?"

"Probably have an electric one," I said.

"Is that so?" Mr. Weasley said excitedly. "Eclectic, you say? With a plug? Gracious, I must see that… Let's think…"

Fred, George, and Ron argued a bit more, and then Mr. Weasley spoke loudly. "Stand back, Harry."

There was a shuffling of footsteps on the other side of the wall, and then the man demanded to know what was going on. Mr. Weasley muttered an incantation, and then there was a loud _BANG_ as the wall burst open.

The electric fire flew across the room, and we slid out of the fireplace. The woman, who I assumed to be Harry's aunt, screamed and fell backward. Harry's uncle caught her before she hit the ground.

Mr. Weasley tried to make small talk with Harry's aunt and uncle, but they just stared and backed away. I sighed, knowing that if I looked at any of my friends, we wouldn't be able to resist the temptation, and we would burst out laughing.

Fred, George, and Clara went to Harry's room to get Harry's trunk. I personally didn't think that Clara beaming the trunk or owl cage would be the smartest idea, with the way the Dursleys were, but it was up to her.

I ran to Harry and threw my arms around him. I wanted to ask about the dream, but I figured that could wait until we were somewhere private. I hadn't told Clara or anyone else about it, and I wanted to keep it a little while longer before I brought it up.

Harry grinned. "Hey, sis."

Harry and I had decided we were basically siblings after finding out everything from Sirius back in June, but I figured the "sis" was kind of for show, as if to say to the Dursleys, "this is my real family, and there's nothing you can do about it."

I didn't look at Harry or Ron as Dudley tried (unsuccessfully) to hide behind his father, because I knew I would burst out laughing.

Mr. Weasley lit a fire with his wand as Fred and George heaved the trunk down the stairs. Clara followed on a sunbeam with Hedwig's cage and supplies. She appeared to be a little too happy with her sunbeams at the moment. I rolled my eyes.

"Okay, Fred, you first," Mr. Weasley motioned to the fire. Fred walked up to the fire, but he tripped on one of the stones.

"Oh no," he said, as a bunch of candies spilled from his pocket. Fred scrambled around, shoving the toffees into his pockets, and when it looked like he'd gotten all of them, he stepped up to the fire. He gave the Dursleys a cheery wave and then said "The Burrow," throwing the green powder into the fire.

Harry and Clara helped George with the trunk, and then he disappeared into the fire as well. Ron quickly followed.

Before any of the rest of us could step into the fire, there was a loud retching noise. We looked up. Dudley was no longer hiding behind Mr. Dursley, but had apparently grabbed for one of the candies that Fred hadn't seen. He was gagging and sputtering on a long, purple, slimy thing protruding from his mouth. I looked on in horror as I realized it was his tongue.

Harry's aunt ran to the poor boy and yanked on his tongue. Dudley screamed and struggled more.

"Not to worry, I can sort him out!" Mr. Weasley yelled, advancing on Dudley with his wand. Harry's aunt screamed louder and threw herself over her son.

"No, really!" said Mr. Weasley desperately. "It's a simple process, really- my son Fred, you know- a real practical joker- it's just a simple engorgement charm- I mean, I think it is- please, I can correct it-"

The Dursleys moved away from Mr. Weasley, backing themselves into a corner. Harry and Clara glanced at each other, and then at me. This time wasn't like in the Shrieking Shack. This time, I knew what they wanted me to do.

"Dudley," I said, "Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, please. It would be very simple to reverse the spell." Dudley clutched his bottom and trembled, and I recalled that Harry had said Hagrid had given him a pig's tail on their first encounter. "It won't be like last time," I promised. "Nobody here wants to hurt you."

I had the Dursleys under my spell. Mr. Weasley was staring at me, shocked. Harry and Clara smiled encouragingly.

"Okay, you can heal him," Harry's uncle said. "But then get the bloody hell out of my house."

Mr. Weasley nodded uncomfortably. "Yes, well…" he took out his wand again and pointed it directly at the boy's tongue. "Reducio."

Harry's uncle started to look angry again. Dudley's tongue returned to normal size. "Come on," Clara whispered. She reached for my hand, and I took Harry's. We would slip out and sunbeam back to the Burrow while Mr. Weasley sorted everything out. As Clara summoned a sunbeam, I realized that after today, we would probably have to tell Arthur Weasley about our other talents and our background. Even for witches, we weren't normal.

* * *

**Clara POV**

I made my sunbeams move at light speed. I didn't really want to be seen at the moment. We arrived back at the Burrow in less than a minute.

"Did he eat it?" Fred asked excitedly as we walked in the door.

"Yeah," said Harry as Renee helped him step off the sunbeam. He hadn't had as much experience with riding on them as she and I had. "What _was_ that?"

"Ton-Tongue Toffee," Fred said proudly. "George and I invented them, and we've been looking for someone to test them on all summer."

The tiny kitchen exploded with laughter. I looked around. The table in the tiny kitchen was occupied by Ron, George, Bill, and Charlie, and they were all laughing.

I hadn't really ever thought much about Bill and Charlie, but I studied them as Charlie introduced himself to Harry. Charlie was built like the twins, shorter and stockier than Ron and Percy. I knew he, like Harry, had been a seeker for the Gryffindor Quidditch team, and he certainly looked like seeker material. He worked with dragons in Romania.

Bill, on the other hand, had surprised me last night. I had expected him to be an older version of Percy, but he was nowhere near as uptight. He wore his long hair in a ponytail and had an earring that looked like a dragon tooth.

There was a loud _POP_ as Arthur Weasley appeared right next to George's shoulder, looking livid. Renee nudged me, and I guessed she didn't want to be on the scene for the fallout, especially because Mr. Weasley would probably question us about the charmspeak and the sunbeams.

I heard laughter coming from upstairs, and strangely, one of the voices sounded like Nico's. I'd never heard the kid laugh before, but that was definitely him. I followed the noise up to Ginny's room.

To my surprise, Nico, Ginny, and Hermione were laughing over a game of exploding snap. From the looks of it, Nico loved the way the cards exploded and then re-formed a few seconds later. I was really glad he had decided to come with us. Even in the 24 hours we'd been in the United Kingdom, he was becoming a different person. I was glad my wizard friends could bring that out of him. And yes, that included Draco, my brother… he was my friend, too. He had saved our lives, and that spoke volumes.

Renee and I both loved exploding snap too, so we joined our friends without hesitation. It was easy to forget about everything when I was surrounded by some of my best friends, playing my favorite game. I was excited for the rest of the summer holidays. And tomorrow, we would leave for the Quidditch World Cup. I was incredibly lucky to have everyone and everything I did in my life.

* * *

**_A/N: Well, it looks like this chapter was a filler. I had planned to write the Quidditch World Cup in this chapter as well, but then I figured that actually needed to be its own thing, with everything I'm planning for that. So expect that one to be a lot longer, and a lot more original._**

**_Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Please review._**

**_~Celia_**


	4. Friends, Discoveries, Secrets

_**A/N: Standard disclaimer: All characters and setting belong to J.K. Rowling, except for my original characters Clara Bradley and Renee Sanderson, and Nico di Angelo, who belongs to Rick Riordan. I am making no profit from this story.**_

_**Enjoy the chapter!**_

_**~Celia**_

* * *

**Renee POV**

Ron and Harry joined us in the girls' room a few minutes later. I introduced Harry and Nico, and the younger boy looked uncomfortable. He looked around the room, as if looking for an escape. I decided not to worry about him at the moment; he had been uncomfortable with Hermione at first, but had clearly warmed up to her in the last few hours. I figured it would just take time.

We heard Mrs. Weasley yelling from downstairs. "What did they do this time?" Ginny asked.

Ron explained about the Ton-Tongue Toffees, and everyone except for Hermione laughed.

"Mum found this stack of order forms when she was cleaning their room," Ron continued. "Great, long lists for stuff they've invented. Price lists, that sort of thing."

"They call it Weasley's Wizard Wheezes," Ginny said. "We've been hearing explosions out of their room for ages, but we never thought they were actually _making_ things, you know? We thought they just liked the noise."

"Yes, but that stuff was _dangerous_," Hermione argued. "Imagine poor Dudley, with his tongue four feet long…"

Far from the effect Hermione wanted, this sent me, Harry, Clara, and Ron into a new round of laughter.

"I think they're lucky your mother confiscated it, really, before it got out of hand."

"She's just upset because they only got three O.W.L.s each," Ron protested.

"Yeah, in Transfiguration, Charms, and Potions, though," Ginny argued. "You'd think she would be prouder; those are three of the hardest subjects offered at Hogwarts."

"Then there was this big row," Ron said. "Because Mum wanted them to go into the Ministry like Dad, but they said all they want to do was open a joke shop."

"Yeah, but why shouldn't they?" Ginny said. "We don't want them ending up like Percy, now, do we? And _they_ certainly don't want that."

From the little we'd seen of the third-oldest Weasley since we'd arrived, Nico, Clara, and I could see where she was coming from. Newly graduated from Hogwarts, he was already working in the Ministry, and he had apparently spent the whole summer holed up in his room, writing report after report for his boss, Mr. Crouch. The current topic was cauldron thickness.

After it sounded like Mrs. Weasley was done yelling, the others went downstairs to see what they could do to help with dinner, but I held Harry back in Ginny's room.

"Harry," I said, fingering the "S"-shaped birthmark on my neck. "Did you potentially have any disturbing dreams within the past few days?"

Harry looked at me quizzically for a moment. "Why do you think that?"

I explained about the dream that I had, and also about the shared dreams that Percy and Clara often experienced.

Harry frowned. "I was kind of hoping to keep it from the Weasleys until after the World Cup," he said. "I didn't want them all worrying. Have _you_ told anyone?"

I shook my head. "For the same reasons as you, I expect. We can tell them after the World Cup."

"Just Hermione, Ron, and Clara, though," Harry said. "We don't need them all knowing."

"And maybe Ginny," I said.

"Ron won't like that."

"I hate leaving her out," I argued. "Ron wants to protect her, but I think she's a little jealous of Clara and me, because we're somehow included in all of your adventures, but she isn't. And she is in the same year as us. I just think it's a little unfair, is all."

"Oh, all right, then, we can include her," Harry said reluctantly.

* * *

Dinner was a very enjoyable affair. We ate out in the yard, sitting at two picnic tables placed end to end. Clara and I were very happy to just listen and take everything in. Nico, however, was asking Hermione all kinds of questions about the Wizard world. It was funny to watch.

After dinner, Mrs. Weasley reminded us to go to bed early. "You have an early morning tomorrow. Harry, Renee, Clara, and Nico, if you want to leave your supply list out on the table, I'll buy everything tomorrow.

"We stopped at Diagon Alley before arriving here," I said. "We've got everything we need. We had to get Nico's wand, after all, and that's not something someone else can do for a wizard."

"Oh, yes, of course," Mrs. Weasley said.

* * *

**Nico POV**

There was something weird about being here. For the first time in a while, I was actually happy. The Weasleys and Hermione were very nice people, and they seemed to want to spend time with me, for me. Draco Malfoy had been like that, too.

In many ways, Clara and Renee had been right when they said I could be accepted in this world. I had a feeling that some of their friends knew about the demigod stuff, and may have even known that I was a demigod, but it was like Renee had said. Aside from her, Clara, and the professor, nobody else had to know who my father was if I didn't want them to.

Yet there was something that was bothering me. When Harry had come into the room, I had sensed something. It was kind of a similar feeling that I had with that girl from Diagon Alley yesterday, Hazel. And, I realized, also a feeling I'd had around Renee, although with her the feeling was much more faint. And I trusted Renee, so maybe that was why I had never noticed it before. But around Harry and Hazel, and around Renee, I couldn't deny there was an air of something not quite alive. There was something about Harry Potter, apparently known as the Boy Who Lived, that was actually quite the opposite. There was something about him that was either dead, or that very much should have been.

* * *

**Renee POV**

"Throw a pillow at her, that usually works," Clara said.

I groaned. At least it wasn't Percy Jackson, who would probably wake me up with a blast of water to the face. I quickly pulled myself up and looked around. My hair was perfect, which didn't surprise me, but Clara's, Hermione's, and Ginny's also were. I didn't even have to ask to see that this was my mother's doing. Ginny was checking herself out in the mirror. She wore a cute purple sweater and jeans that really accentuated her shape.

To my left, Hermione wore a similar outfit, but her sweater was deep blue. Clara had a black one, and mine was, of course, emerald green.

I explained to Ginny and Hermione what my mom had done, and they laughed. "I'd love it if she could do that every day," Hermione said.

We realized we were a little bit later than we should have been, and we made our way down the stairs. We met Mrs. Weasley on our way down.

"Oh, there you are," she sighed. "Good, there's just enough time for a spot of breakfast before you go, you've got a bit of a walk."

"Not if I can help it," Clara muttered to me. I silenced her with a look.

* * *

**Clara POV**

As we entered the kitchen, Mrs. Weasley yelled, "George!"

Everyone jumped slightly. "What?" said George in an innocent-sounding tone that fooled no one.

Nico looked around the room. "Is Arthur their real dad?" he whispered to me. "Because I honestly think they might be sons of Hermes."

I laughed, thinking of the Stoll brothers.

"_Accio_!" Mrs. Weasley yelled. "We told you to destroy them!" she said furiously. "We told you to get rid of the lot! Go on, empty your pockets, both of you!"

"Oh, come on, Mrs. Weasley," Renee said innocently. "Is it really a problem if they take them _out_ of the house? At least the cats won't accidentally pick them up, and you won't have to deal with them."

Mrs. Weasley considered for a moment. "Oh, all right," she muttered.

Nico, Hermione, and I shook our heads. Fred and George grinned. "Thanks, Renee," Fred said. "We spent six months developing those."

"Oh, a fine way to spend six months!" Mrs. Weasley yelled at the twins. "No wonder you didn't get more O.W.L.s!"

All in all, the atmosphere wasn't the friendliest as we left the room for the World Cup. Mrs. Weasley was still glowering as she kissed Arthur on the cheek, but the twins were worse. They stormed out the door without a word to their mother. I threw a sunbeam to catch up to them, and offered Renee my hand. Nico stepped up to me eagerly. I felt bad that we were leaving Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Mr. Weasley to walk up the hill themselves, but I needed to talk to Renee about something.

"Do you really think that was wise?" I asked as we sped off. "They're probably going to try and sell them at the World Cup."

Renee shrugged. "And what's the problem with that? It's not like they'll pull the same trick they did with Dudley, right?"

"Can you be _sure_ of that, though?"

"Clara," she said. "I trust them to make the right decisions. And if it's their life's ambition, well, I think we should respect that."

"Whatever," I said, looking away.

"Can you double back?" Renee asked, and I could tell it was more to change the subject than anything. "We should offer your assistance to the others."

"Sure," I said. "I can do that bus thing again. I want to test what wizards see, anyway."

Renee raised her eyebrows. "Driver!" Nico called. She rolled her eyes.

We sped back to the others. "Hop on."

Arthur Weasley's eyes widened when he saw us. "Is that a flying bus?" he asked. "Where did you…"

I laughed. "I knew it," I said. "I need to tell you something about us, Mr. Weasley. The others already know this, but I'm a daughter of Apollo, the god of the sun. Renee is a daughter of Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty."

"It's all true," Renee said with a wink.

"Wow," Mr. Weasley said. "Okay."

I laughed. I loved people's reactions. Of course, Renee's charmspeak had also helped.

We reached the top of the hill as Fred and George were panting on the last steps. "Are you serious?" Fred said.

"You mean we didn't have to walk?" George said. "When you could have just used your sunbeams and helped all of us?"

"Shh!" Nico said, and he gestured to three other people who were standing in the clearing. Renee grinned when we saw that Luna was one of them. She stood next to a man with long hair, which was blonde like hers.

"Over here, Arthur, we've got it," one of the men called.

A handsome older boy jumped out of a tree. I smiled shyly. "Hey, Cedric."

Cedric smiled brightly. "Clara! I didn't know you'd be coming with the Weasleys."

While Cedric and I were in the same house at Hogwarts, he was four years older than me, so we weren't really friends. Still, we got along well, and he was always helpful when Renee needed to use the secret room inside the Hufflepuff common room to escape from the Slytherins for a while.

"We got good tickets," Ron said offhandedly.

"Good Lord, Arthur," said Cedric's father. "Are they all yours?"

Arthur smiled. "No, only the redheads, Amos. This is Hermione, a friend of Ron's… and Harry, another friend-"

"Merlin's beard," said Amos Diggory before Mr. Weasley could introduce the rest of us. "Harry? Harry _Potter_?"

Fred, George, and Ron looked like they were trying not to laugh. Cedric and Harry both seemed embarrassed.

"Er - yeah," Harry said quickly.

Mr. Weasley noticed Harry's discomfort. "Yes, Harry Potter," he said firmly. "And this is Renee, another friend, and Clara. I believe she and your son are both in Hufflepuff, am I right?"

Nico was trying to hide in the shadows again, but Mr. Weasley called him out. "Oh, and this is Nico. He's, er, their cousin, I think."

I nodded. I studied the younger boy. He was staring at Cedric with a weird look on his face.

"Well, we've made good time," Arthur said. "Everyone, put a finger on this boot. It'll be a squeeze, here we go." Renee and I stepped on either side of Nico; we both knew how he didn't like being surrounded by other people.

We all placed a finger on the boot. It was kind of a squeeze, but we managed. Thanks to Draco, I knew what was coming, but I heard Harry and Luna give startled gasps as we were jerked off the ground.

* * *

**Renee POV**

We landed in a clearing. The adults were all standing, but everyone else except for me, Nico, and Clara looked pretty windswept, and were all on the ground. Clara and I helped everyone up.

"Seven past five from Stoatshead Hill," said a voice. I looked around. There were two Ministry wizards dressed in Muggle clothing, although neither of them did a very good job of it. One of the wizards was wearing thigh-length galoshes, and the other sported a kilt and a poncho.

Mr. Weasley started chatting with the kilted wizard. The other wizard took out his clipboard and looked to find our campsite. He pointed us in the right direction. "Campsite manager's called Roberts."

We crossed the field to our campsite, where there was a man who was clearly the only real Muggle around.

Mr. Weasley and the Muggle made small talk, and then he asked Harry to help him with the Muggle currency. Mr. Roberts just stared at this interaction, but then he looked around at us.

"Weasley, it says here, party of nine," Roberts confirmed. "Hang on… there are ten of you…"

Shoot. None of us had factored in Nico in our count. I beckoned him and Clara over to me, and we walked over to Mr. Weasley. I explained the situation.

Mr. Weasley sighed. "I'll stay behind, then," he said. "I'll apparate when the other boys come."

"No," Nico insisted. "It's my fault. I'll just go…"

"Where?" I demanded.

"Uh…" Nico said. "Back to camp?"

Nico had been acting kind of weird lately, I realized. And hadn't he said he really didn't want to go back to camp? Besides, how could he even get there?

"No," I insisted with charmspeak. "You all go. I'll wait until the coast is clear and then charmspeak him into letting me in."

Arthur and Nico raised their eyebrows, but Clara seemed to get it. "It will be good practice," she agreed. "Especially for, well, you know." She glanced at Arthur and Nico.

She touched my arm and looked over at a clump of trees further away. I followed her over to that spot.

"Do you have drachmas on you?" She whispered.

"Yeah. Why?"

"Iris message me if you can't get in in half an hour, and I'll send you a sunbeam or something."

"Good thinking," I said. "But I do have a plan."

"Good, but just in case." She thought for a moment. "I could create a sunbeam connection like the one I have with Percy and with…" she paled and looked around. "Yeah, with Percy." I could tell she didn't want to say out loud who else she had the sunbeam connection with. "That way I'll know if there's trouble."

I raised my eyebrows. "I'll be fine, Clara."

She nodded. "Just making sure. Iris Message if there's trouble."

I promised I would, and then we parted ways. Just as I was about to say something to Mr. Roberts, there was a large party, and I recognized some people I'd seen around Hogwarts, although nobody I knew by name. I decided I would have to wait a little longer, and I sat down on a rock to rehearse what I was going to say.

* * *

**Nico POV**

We passed many tents that looked normal enough, although occasionally there was the odd weather vane or chimney sticking out of them. Then, of course, there were some tents that seemed like their sole purpose was to show off. I wondered at that.

I couldn't believe Renee had given up her spot for me. I knew it was only temporary, because she was going to try to charmspeak Mr. Roberts, but still, I was very impressed.

Some official-looking wizard had cast a spell on that guy, Mr. Roberts. Obliviate, I think it was. Some sort of memory charm? I shrugged.

Of course, I wasn't going to actually go back to Camp Half-Blood if I wasn't able to get in, and I think Renee knew that. She was probably a little suspicious after yesterday morning, when she had caught me up at five in the morning as well.

But she shouldn't have worried. I didn't find what I was looking for, anyway.

We passed a tent that honestly looked more like a silk palace, and there were several live peacocks tethered outside. Draco Malfoy stepped out of the tent. I almost waved, but then I remembered what Renee had said about the Weasleys and the Malfoys. In fact, Draco did stare at the group for a few moments longer than I would have thought. At first, he just looked annoyed, but then he seemed to have figured something out. He stepped back in the tent as we passed, and it almost looked like he wanted to avoid a confrontation. Maybe it was because of Clara.

* * *

**Draco POV**

If I had known Clara would be coming with the Weasleys, I would have offered her and Renee a place with us. There was no way their seats would be half as good as ours. The Weasleys were the poorest pureblood family around.

But there was something strange about the group. I studied them. Clara was walking next to the kid from Diagon Alley, what was his name? Nicholas? That kid had a funny way of blending into shadows, and I figured he was probably part of the same group as Renee and Clara. Demigods, apparently.

Around the Easter holidays, I'd given up trying to find out who Clara's father was from my mother. Instead, I spent more time in the library at home, and then when I returned to school, in the Hogwarts library. I figured some of what I was looking for was likely to be in the restricted section, but there was a surprising amount of information available to the public on various magical talents outside of the wizard world. Apparently, for instance, there was a community in the Northeastern United States of people who came from the original Muggle fairytales. This was either in Maine or New York, depending on the sources.

There was also an island where various creatures lived, which was hidden from other aspects of earth, and which was only accessible through a secret platform 13 at King's Cross Station every thirteen years.

But the thing that really reminded me of Clara and Renee was something I really should have known from the beginning: Greek mythology.

Okay, fine, there were Roman and Norse demigods as well, but neither of those groups seemed exactly right. However, when I read about the Greeks, something just clicked. Greek and Roman mythology were part of my early education, of course. There were many aspects to wizard education before Hogwarts, and these were often done in small communities of wizard families. My group had included Gregory Goyle, Vincent and Silas Crabbe, Millicent and Ellis Bulstrode, Pansy and Kaylee Parkinson, and eventually Ariana Gordon and Morgana Fletcher. Although I figured Silas and Ellis were now among the oldest in a new group, whoever that may have been.

Anyway, I think I was the only one who really paid attention in any of those classes, except for maybe Kaylee, Ariana, and Morgana. But Greek and Roman mythology had stuck with me, more than anything else (although I also retained a lot of Greek, Latin, and French). So looking back, I really should have known.

I have to admit, I didn't really make the connection until the other day, when Kaylee, Ariana, and Morgana were referring to Clara and Renee as "sun" and "love." But after that, I thought back to some of the books that I had found. And then yesterday, as we were packing for the Quidditch World Cup, I privately sought out my mother and confirmed my suspicions. I had a pretty good idea from Kaylee, Morgana, and Ariana's language who was who, although Clara was a little harder to guess than Renee, because I had to consider which of the gods would have fallen in love with my mother, and who my mother would have reciprocated that with. Renee, on the other hand, was incredibly easy.

I looked back at the group once more, and I realized what was missing: Renee! I cursed under my breath. She was exactly the kind of person who would have given her spot up for the shadow kid if there had been an issue. I walked back into the tent, hoping she was still at the gate.

* * *

**Renee POV**

I dug around in my pocket for a drachma. Clara was probably worried by now; it was well past the half an hour I'd said I'd contact her by. I could probably sneak in with a large group, but that seemed dishonest. I looked over at the tents.

Suddenly, a shock of blond hair stood out. I cursed silently, I couldn't believe her. Was she actually willing to get herself kicked out for me? I was fine.

"Clara," I called. "Go back."

The crowd moved, and the blond hair kept moving toward me. But I had realized my mistake.

"Styx," I swore under my breath as he came nearer.

"I thought I might find you here," Draco drawled. "That was a very nice thing you did for the shadow kid. Maybe you should be in Hufflepuff."

"His name's Nico," I snapped. "Now, if you could kindly leave, I'm still trying to figure out-"

"How to charmspeak the Muggle?" Draco asked innocently.

"Yeah." Then I realized the full impact of what he had just said. "I mean, what? Charmspeak? I don't know what you're talking about."

Draco smiled. "Save it, Rebirth. I know everything."

I groaned. "Don't call me that in public," I snapped. "And unless you have any ideas, _go away_."

Draco laughed. "Ooh, testy. I can imagine you've been surrounded by those smelly Weasleys and the mudblood for far too long. Is that right, Sanderson?"

"Don't insult them! The Weasleys don't smell! And _don't_ use that word to talk about Hermione, Malfoy!"

Draco fiddled with something around his neck. "Frankly, I'm surprised at you, Renee. You'd think, being a Slytherin, that you would, ah, know better ways of getting in. And you _do_ have charmspeak."

Was this the same person who saved my life three days ago? The same teenager who took Nico under his wing in Diagon Alley?

"Maybe it's _you_ who's been spending too much time around unsatisfactory people," I retorted. "Too many Muggles to deal with at the campsite, or too many Muggleborns occupying this space?"

Draco frowned. "Actually," he started to say, but then looked away. "Never mind. You don't need to know."

His demeanor had changed suddenly, and I was reminded of that afternoon in the Slytherin common room, after the letter to appeal for Buckbeak had failed. "Is it your father?" I said softly.

Draco looked around nervously, but didn't say anything. I took that as a yes.

"I'm sorry, Draco. If there's anything I can do to help-"

"Don't get involved with him," Draco warned in a low voice. "He'll hurt you. I don't think your charmspeak even would do anything to him."

Draco had mentioned the charmspeak three times now, and I had to admit I was curious as to what he actually knew.

He fiddled with the thing around his neck again, and I realized it was a lanyard. "Do you want my help getting in?" He muttered. "I have a Ministry pass. We're the Minister's guests, see. My father made a generous donation to St. Mungo's." He looked both proud and embarrassed to be telling me this.

I looked at Draco. I knew I had changed him somewhat. I had a feeling he could get me in without too much trouble. And really, why shouldn't I let him?

"Okay," I said.

"Okay."

He walked up to Mr. Roberts and showed him the Ministry pass. He talked with the Muggle man for a few minutes in a much more civilized way than I would have expected, being who he was. Within a few minutes, Roberts had confirmed that I was allowed in.

Once we had crossed the gates into the campsite, I expected Draco to leave, but once again, he surprised me.

"I saw your group as they came by. I can walk you to their campsite, I think I know which way they went."

"You would do that?" I asked, wondering if Draco had an ulterior motive. "I mean, the Weasleys don't actually like you that much…"

"I wanted to talk to you," Draco said quietly, his voice barely above a whisper. "I've been doing some research, you see. And really, I don't know why I didn't see it before. Renee Sanderson, daughter of Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love and beauty." He smirked.

For a moment, I was stuck. What was I supposed to say? Could I even trust him? Could I tell him the truth?

Before I could come to terms with this, Draco gave a small smile. "Ha. I was right. Your expression gave it away, Rebirth."

I rolled my eyes. _Fine. I give in._ "How did you know?"

"I think the real question is, why didn't I see it sooner?" Draco asked slyly. He explained about training that pureblood wizards go through before Hogwarts, and about how he had learned about Greek mythology when he was a lot younger.

"So your mother didn't tell you?"

"She wouldn't budge," Draco agreed. "I tried for three months, but she's pretty powerful when she wants to hide something. I gave up around Easter, and then I started looking into magical communities outside of the wizard world. There's a surprising amount in the school library, if you know what you're looking for. It's not even in the restricted section, either."

"Are there others?" I asked. "Besides wizards and demigods, I mean?"

Draco smirked again. "I'm surprised you haven't run into them. There are quite a few on the American East Coast, actually. There's a town where all the characters from Muggle fairytales live, either called Ferryport Landing, in New York, or Storybrooke, in Maine-"

Storybrooke, Maine. Why did that sound so familiar?

"Actually, I do know about Storybrooke," I said. "Although I didn't know that was what it was at the time. I ended up there on my first quest, with Clara and Clarisse, and we ran into a guy with glowing eyes…"

Draco was looking at me with interest. "Quest?" he asked. "For what?"

_Oh, Styx._ "Don't worry about it."

Draco narrowed his eyes. "Should I be worried?"

_Well, Kaylee is working with Luke and Kronos - no, Luke _is_ Kronos now - to destroy the mortal and wizard worlds, and everything else. Kronos promised Kaylee, Ariana, and Morgana the wizard world for themselves if they succeed, which probably means they would find a way to resurrect Voldemort in an already destroyed world. There's a possibility that none of us will survive after Percy's sixteenth birthday next summer, and the world as we know it will be completely destroyed, and the titans will rule like in old times. Oh yeah, and your sister is apparently an "accomplice" as part of the Great Prophecy, but Chiron won't let us hear it yet…_

"No. Everything is fine," I said, a little more forcefully than I meant to.

Draco stared at me for a moment, and I could tell that he didn't think I was telling the complete truth. I was glad when he dropped the subject.

"So you're a daughter of Aphrodite," Draco said quietly, back at his original point. "Clara was trickier to figure out. That was really when I wished our mother would help me out. That's our tent, by the way."

I stared. The tent, if you could call it that, was made of multicolored silk, with a few live peacocks tethered to the front. I rolled my eyes.

"Really blends in, that one," I said sarcastically.

Draco turned slightly pink. "It wasn't _my_ idea." He turned serious again as he went back to the subject of Clara.

"It was actually Kaylee who helped me figure the whole thing out. Inadvertently, of course. When I overheard them plotting against you the other day, she referred to you as "love" and Clara as "sun." After that, and after our day at Diagon Alley, I thought back to my research. So I'm guessing that Clara's father is Apollo, the god of the sun. I can see my mother falling for him, too."

Despite myself, I smiled. Draco had really put a lot into this.

A few yards in front of us, I spotted a few redheads. "You can drop me off here," I urged. I really didn't want the Weasleys to know that I was with Draco.

Draco seemed to get where I was coming from. He looked around cautiously, and then beckoned me behind a bush. I followed him.

"Can you and Clara try to come to our tent tonight?" he whispered. "I already heard Father talking with Mr. Crabbe, Mr. Goyle, Mr. Parkinson, and some of their old buddies about a meeting at the Parkinsons' tent, so I know he'll be out of the way. But my mother really wants to see Clara."

I remembered he had told me Narcissa would want to see Clara at the World Cup. I thought for a minute.

"I'll see what I can do," I promised.

Draco nodded. "Thanks, Rebirth."

I blushed. I wished he would be more careful about where he used the nickname. But then again, we were pretty secluded as it was.

I turned towards the Weasley's tents, but Draco grabbed my hand. "Would you mind not telling Clara what we talked about?" he whispered. "I would kind of rather we have that conversation tonight, with my mother. And I would like to be the one to tell her."

I raised my eyebrows, but it kind of made sense. "Okay."

Draco smiled. "See you tonight, Rebirth."

I rolled my eyes at his insistence on the nickname. "See you tonight."

I walked over to the Weasleys, pausing slightly when I realized that only Fred, George, and Arthur were there. I figured the others were probably running errands to help set up camp. Meanwhile, Mr. Weasley looked like he was having far too much fun with the matches. I sighed and walked over to see how I could help.

* * *

**_A/N: Hey look, another scene where I didn't write the World Cup! I hope you liked Draco's discovery, I've been planning that scene for a while._**

**_In the next chapter I swear I'll actually write the World Cup, as well as some more canon action from the scenes that follow it, and Clara's meeting with Narcissa. I'm excited for that too._**

**_Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter. Please review!_**

**_~Celia_**


	5. The Quidditch World Cup

**_A/N: Standard disclaimer: All characters and setting belong to J.K. Rowling, except for my original characters Clara Bradley, Renee Sanderson, Tomasz Ruddernot, Gill Bellis, Nolan Avery, and Franklin Morrison. Nico di Angelo belongs to Rick Riordan. I am making no profit from this story._**

* * *

**Clara POV**

Harry, Hermione, and I had helped Mr. Weasley set up the tents the Muggle way. I knew what I was doing, and Hermione did a little bit, but Harry was as lost as the wizards.

I wondered about that. I'd never really asked Harry about his childhood. I knew the Dursleys weren't exactly the type of family a kid would want to be part of, but I'd never considered just how bad they were.

Harry, Hermione, and Ron went to get water, and Fred and George went one way to gather firewood. I went another way with Nico and Ginny.

I kept looking over my shoulder to where the entrance to the campsite was. I trusted Renee, of course; she was a Slytherin, after all, and a demigod, so she was cunning and resourceful. But I still worried about her trying to charmspeak Roberts, and trying to do so without drawing attention to herself. I noticed Nico also kept looking back too, and then looking around nervously.

A few minutes later, we came to another nondescript tent with some elderly witches and wizards sitting outside and chatting. I looked up when I heard my name.

"Hey, Clara! Great to see you here!"

Neville was sitting on a lawn chair between a woman who looked as if she could have been his grandmother and an elderly man. He stood up and came over to me.

Neville hugged Ginny and me. Nico once again tried to hide in the shadows. I rolled my eyes. I knew meeting new people bothered him, but I wished he would at least _try_.

"Nico," I said firmly, hoping that my voice conveyed that we would talk later about this. "This is our friend Neville. He goes to school with us."

Nico looked at the ground. I wished he didn't have to be like this. "This is Nico," I continued. "He's our cousin, also from America."

Neville raised his eyebrows. "Why are there so many of you from America? They have a perfectly good wizard school over there, at least I think they do…" he looked between Nico and me for a minute. "Unless… _oh_."

I nodded, hoping that my expression conveyed what I wouldn't say out loud. _Yeah, he's a demigod, like us._

Professor Sprout had said something about the American wizard community not getting along with us, and that after she had gone to Hogwarts, Dumbledore and Chiron agreed that it would be best to send other demigods to Hogwarts as well if they happened to be a witch or wizard.

A little while later we came across the Ruddernot tent, which was a little more flashy. Tomasz, Nolan, Franklin, Gill, and Sandra sat chatting outside the tent. Sandra smiled and called us over, but then she raised her eyebrows. "Where's Renee?"

I lowered my gaze. "I don't know. There was an issue with how many people could come in, and she offered to give up her spot for Nico." I gestured to the younger boy, who was once again hiding in the shadows.

"She _what_?" Gill asked, sounding shocked.

"Renee can be very persuasive," Ginny said uncomfortably. "She'll find a way, don't you worry."

Gill and Sandra relaxed a bit.

Tomasz got up. "I'm glad to hear she's okay," he said. "Listen, my parents said I could have a party here at the tent after the match. Third years only, so you two and Renee are invited."

Nico looked away and muttered something under his breath. Tomasz looked over at him. "Sorry, kid. Just that my parents told me to keep it small."

"I brought the exploding snap deck," Ginny said quickly. "I'm sure you all can get a game going there tonight at our tent, Nico."

I was surprised when the younger boy gave her a genuine smile. "I'd like that."

I wondered if Nico would have actually wanted to go to a stranger's party anyway. "I'll check with Renee when she gets here," I promised, looking over my shoulder again at the campsite entrance. I noticed Draco's incredibly flashy silk tent with peacocks over by the entrance, and I thought about how ridiculous this whole thing was. Couldn't most wizards, like us, at least make some effort to blend in?

After we had gathered up our firewood, we walked back to the group. It had been almost two hours since we'd left Renee, and I was really starting to worry. I seriously hoped she'd be at our tent when I got back.

* * *

**Renee POV**

Clara tackled me into a hug the moment she saw me. "Renee, thank the gods!"

I laughed. "Clara, I swear, I was fine," I said absently. I was thinking about how to talk to her about Draco's request.

Ginny seemed a lot less worried. "We ran into your Slytherin friends," she said. "Tomasz is having a third year party at his tent, so the three of us are invited.

"Was Gill with them?" I asked uneasily. I loved my boyfriend, but things had been kind of awkward the last time I saw him, at Diagon Alley.

"Yeah," Ginny said, and then noticed my expression. "Is everything okay?"

I shook off the weird feeling. I'd just have to explain to him, the same way I had with Harry, that I saw Draco was trying to change.

* * *

**Clara POV**

Mr. Weasley kept up a running commentary of everyone who came by. The Weasleys weren't really interested, as they already got too much ministry information on a daily basis, but I thought it was kind of cool to learn who everyone was. Hermione seemed actually interested, and Renee and Harry were paying polite attention, but I could tell they didn't really care.

"That was Cuthbert Mockridge, head of the Goblin Liaison Office. … Here comes Gilbert Wimple; he's with the Committee on Experimental Charms; had those horns for a while now. … That's Bode and Croaker… they're Unspeakables. …"

"They're what?"

"From the Department of Mysteries, top secret, no idea what they get up to…"

Nico had sought refuge inside the tent after about ten minutes of this, muttering about crowds. I think his reluctance might have had something to do with the guy with the horns, though. We took turns checking on him every so often, but he seemed fine.

Percy, Bill, and Charlie came strolling out of the woods around noon, right as we were frying eggs and sausages.

"We just apparated," said Percy loudly, and rather unnecessarily in my opinion. "Ah, excellent, lunch."

I could have sworn the younger Weasleys were trying to hide their laughter.

We were halfway through our plates when Mr. Weasley jumped to his feet, grinning and waving at the man who was striding over to us. "Aha!" he said. "The man of the moment! Ludo!"

Mr. Bagman made small talk with Mr. Weasley, and the latter introduced everyone. Apparently Bagman was the reason we had such good tickets. We would all be in the Top Box. That was really exciting, although I was a little worried about Nico being up that high. It wouldn't actually be in the open air, though, and I didn't think Zeus would try anything with everyone there, and so far from his realm.

"Fancy a flutter on the match, Arthur?" Bagman said eagerly, jingling what seemed to be a large amount of gold in the pockets of his _Wimbourne Wasps_ robes. "I've already got Roddy Pontner betting Bulgaria will score first - I offered him nice odds, considering Ireland's front three are the strongest I've seen in years - and little Agatha Timms has put up half shares on her eel farm for a weeklong match…"

While Mr. Weasley negotiated with Bagman, Fred and George called me over to them.

"So," Fred muttered. "What do you think is the most obscure bet we could make and win?"

"How would I know? I don't know that much about Quidditch." I figured I knew where the twins were going with this, but I wasn't going to give in too easily.

"Well, we just thought," George added. "Because of, well, you know." He pointed at the sun.

"George," I argued, "that's hardly fair."

"Bagman's the best beater the _Wimbourne Wasps_ have ever seen," Fred argued. "As a former professional Quidditch player and current Ministry employee, I'm sure he has loads of money. Otherwise he wouldn't be gambling so much."

"What would you use the money for?" I whispered.

Fred and George looked uncomfortable.

"Well, er…"

"You'd think it's silly, really…"

"You have to promise you won't tell our mother…"

I smiled, thinking about what Ron had said yesterday. "You'd use the money to open a joke shop," I guessed. "And you'll sell your Ton-Tongue Toffees and your… whatever else you have."

Fred lowered his voice even more. "We've been working on these for ages-"

"We've got candies and fake wands and so many things," George said happily.

"Just imagine it," they said together. "Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes."

I sighed. "I can't promise anything," I cautioned. "But I think you should say…" I tried to envision the match; the players; Ron's idol, Viktor Krum… something about Krum… "Ireland wins. But Krum gets the Snitch."

The twins stared at me for a second.

"That's ridiculous!" Fred burst out laughing.

"It's completely unprecedented," George agreed.

"No Seeker in his right mind…"

"Fine," I said. "Then _I'll_ bet that. We'll see who's laughing after the match."

"Wait, you're serious?" George asked.

"Of course I am. Go on, before he leaves."

The twins ran back to Bagman and bet a figure that seemed like it was all of their savings. I hoped I was right, and that my father would come through.

Renee jogged over to me. "Did you just do what I think you just did?"

"I trust them to make the right decisions," I said evenly. "And if it's their life's ambition, well, I think we should respect that."

Renee stared at me for a moment. Then she broke into a grin. "It needs work," she said. "It didn't sound like me at all. But I could teach you…"

It took me a moment to realize she was talking about impersonations, because I had just parroted her from this morning. We both started laughing and couldn't stop.

"You're amazing, Wren."

"Obviously."

I was glad she could still do her Snape impression, even with all the anger she held at him. I slipped my arm around her and we walked back to the tents.

* * *

The rest of the day passed by mostly uneventfully. Renee had an odd look on her face as Bagman and Mr. Weasley started to discuss Bertha Jorkins, a ministry witch from Bagman's department who had disappeared recently while on vacation.

"You okay?" I whispered.

Renee nodded. "It's nothing," she said a little too quickly. "I'm going to go check on Nico."

I hoped that whatever it was, Renee would tell me soon, but she deserved to have her secrets too.

Percy made a big deal when his boss, Mr. Crouch came by. I could see why he would like and even idolize the ministry worker. Crouch was rigid, and he was so expertly dressed that not even the stingiest of Muggles would know he wasn't one of them. He had an impressive toothbrush mustache that looked like it had been trimmed using a side rule.

Crouch started talking about the Bulgarians and a flying carpet embargo. I was getting kind of restless, so I went to join the other demigods in the tent, which looked like a regular Muggle tent, but inside was the size of a small house, and furnished accordingly.

" … really don't know about this, Renee. I've never tried to summon someone I didn't personally know or know of… and if you didn't want me there for the conversation, well, it would be tricky…"

"All I'm asking is that you try. I really think that something happened. Can you at least check if she's there?"

There was a long pause. "I don't know," Nico said finally. "I'd need to find an entrance, and it will be a lot harder now that I'm out of the country, and the Labyrinth's destroyed."

Whatever they were talking about, it was kind of disturbing. Whose ghost could Renee possibly want to talk to?

I debated talking to them, but I also felt as if I'd walked in on something private. Renee would tell me later if it was important. And honestly, after this summer, I'd rather not get involved with Nico's ghosts. I hoped Renee would realize that as well.

* * *

**Renee POV**

In the evening before the match, we walked around and bought souvenirs from the various stands. "Been saving my pocket money for this all summer," Ron said eagerly as we walked around with him, Harry, Hermione, Ginny, and Nico.

My mind was elsewhere, though, although the miniature flying Firebolts were incredible. I was trying to think about how I'd be able to get Clara to talk with her mother.

Ron purchased a large green rosette that yelled out the players' names and a dancing shamrock, he also bought a small moving figurine of the Bulgarian seeker, Viktor Krum.

"Wow, look at these," Harry said, running over to a cart carrying what looked like brass binoculars, except they were covered in weird knobs and dials.

"Omnioculars," the salesman said eagerly. "You can replay action… slow everything down… and they flash up a play-by-play breakdown if you need it. Bargain… only ten galleons."

Ron looked disappointed, but Hermione hurried over to Harry and me. She hadn't bought anything yet, either. Clara and Nico came over behind her.

"What's up?"

"Well," Hermione said uncomfortably. "I was thinking… I mean, I don't have as much money as you guys do, so I couldn't give as much, but would it be possible if we pooled and bought some of these for all the Weasleys? I mean, they could be incredibly useful, and I could see all of us needing them later on…"

"Well, I mean, they did get us all on their tickets," Harry agreed. "And there's almost as many of us as there are of them, with you, me, Renee, Clara, and Nico."

"We got a stipend from Sirius too," I whispered.

Harry raised his eyebrows. "Interesting. Clara, Nico, is this okay with you?"

They nodded, and Nico glanced around, and then smiled as if he knew something we didn't. Once again, I decided not to ask.

"We'll take…" Harry counted out the number of people with us on his fingers. "Twelve pairs."

Together, we pooled together 40 galleons each. Nico was still wearing that mysterious smile.

I finally cracked and motioned to a quieter spot. "What's up?"

"I'm not saying much," Nico said. "But let's just say, my father is the god of wealth and riches."

I smiled. "Nico, you _know_ direct interference is prohibited by the ancient laws."

Nico just stared into the distance, looking thoughtful.

* * *

Finally, as day turned to evening, it was time for the match. A loud, booming voice rang through the woods.

"It's time," said Mr. Weasley excitedly, and from all corners of the campsite, people started walking to the woods.

After about twenty minutes, we reached a gigantic stadium. "Seats a hundred thousand," Mr. Weasley said, noticing our amazement. "Ministry's been working on it all year. Muggle repelling charms over every inch of the place. The minute anyone gets close, they suddenly remember urgent appointments…"

I wondered briefly what that would mean for demigods who weren't also wizards.

We made our way up to the Top Box. After taking our seats, Harry looked around, scanning to see who else was in the top box.

"_Dobby_!" Harry gasped. I jumped a little.

The only other occupant of the Top Box was a creature with batlike ears, wearing a tea towel. I remembered Dobby, the House Elf we had freed after rescuing Clara and Ginny from the Chamber of Secrets. He had been very strange.

The elf pulled their fingers away from their face and peered at Harry between their hands. This elf wasn't Dobby, as they had a much more round nose, but they were definitely a House Elf.

"Did sir just call me Dobby?" squeaked the elf curiously between their fingers. They had a voice that was much more squeaky and high pitched; this House Elf may have even been female.

"Sorry," Harry said. "I just thought you were someone I knew."

Ron, Hermione, Fred, George, and Clara had turned in their seats to look. I was the only one of Harry's friends who had actually met Dobby, after he had caused us both to spend a night in the hospital wing after making a Bludger target Harry in order to "save his life." I imagined our other friends were probably pretty curious. Even Mr. Weasley was looking around with an expression of mild surprise.

"But I knows Dobby too, sir!" squeaked the elf. She was shielding her face as if blinded by light, even though the stadium was not brightly lit. "My name is Winky, sir - and you, sir -" Her dark brown eyes widened to the size of small saucers as they rested on Harry's scar. "You is surely Harry Potter!"

Harry and the elf talked a little more, and I tuned out. Hermione started reading out loud from her program, and Ron was playing with his Omnioculars. I wasn't really even paying attention to all the top-ranking wizards who were filling in the seats around us. At least not until…

"Ah, and here's Lucius!" said Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic, who Mr. Weasley had been talking to.

"Shit," I muttered. I should have realized that as the Minister's guests, Draco and his family would be among those of us in the top box.

They were edging their way into three empty seats directly behind Mr. Weasley. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Clara had turned in their sears to look as well. Draco scowled when he saw us.

Fudge introduced Lucius to some people. Arthur and Lucius had a tense staredown, and Draco looked like he was trying to hide, or at least trying to avoid being seen by us. I followed his actions and did the same.

Lucius Malfoy, however, looked at Clara and me while he taunted Arthur.

"Ah, and you must be Renee Sanderson." Lucius smiled nastily. "The filthy little mudblood Slytherin who's corrupting my son."

"She's not a mudblood, Father," Draco whispered, barely audible.

Lucius's eyes flashed dangerously, but Narcissa glanced over at the Minister. Fudge was talking with some other Ministry officials and hadn't noticed the confrontation, but it was clear Narcissa was warning her husband not to make a scene in front of so many high-ranking ministry officials.

Draco caught my eye when his father wasn't looking. "I'm sorry," he mouthed.

I looked away, failing to notice Lucius Malfoy eyeing Clara suspiciously.

* * *

**Clara POV**

The Quidditch World Cup was a flurry of excitement, but I wasn't paying as much attention as I could have been. The confrontation with the Malfoys had put me on edge. What had Draco told his father about Renee? Two days ago, in Diagon Alley, after he saved our lives, I thought I could trust him, at least a little bit. But after what Lucius Malfoy had said to Renee, I was questioning everything for a second time. Aside from Renee, all Slytherins were completely impossible to understand.

Harry and Ron made a fool of themselves with the Bulgarian mascot display, which were beautiful creatures called _veela_. If they had been human, I would have expected they were daughters of Aphrodite. Even Renee was behaving a little oddly around them.

The Irish had leprechauns, which moved to create shapes and spell different words, in formations by the thousands. Both mascot displays were captivating.

The match began, and I tried to pay attention, but a million thoughts were racing through my head. I snapped back into attention as the two seekers, Aidan Lynch and Viktor Krum, plummeted in a spectacular dive.

"They're going to crash!" Hermione yelled.

She was half right. At the last second, Krum pulled out of the dive, and Lynch tumbled to the ground. Bagman called time out while the medical examiners helped Lynch.

I tuned out again. Had Draco tried to defend Renee? Had my mother stopped her husband _just_ because the Minister was there? Because _I_ was there? Who would she defend in a fight?

The next thing I knew, there was fighting erupting from both sides, and the mascots were going at each other, and then the veela women morphed into something like harpies, and I felt Nico freeze up beside me.

"You okay?"

Nico stared at the harpy-like creatures. "No," he whispered. "Not… not them."

Everyone else was paying attention to the escalating tension between the mascots, but I had to help my friend. I eyed the back stairs; while everyone was occupied with the match, I could use my sunbeams to make a quick getaway. I looked at Nico, and then breathed in sharply as I realized the person directly behind him must have noticed his reaction as well. Draco Malfoy was staring intensely at us.

"Come on," he whispered after a moment. "Hey, bro. Let's get you somewhere quiet. The stadium must be overwhelming." He turned to me. "Do that sunbeam thing, and let's get out of here."

_What_? How did Draco know about that? Unless Narcissa had finally caved…

But strangely, Nico seemed to relax around the older boy. And to be honest, I would welcome the help to get away. I summoned a sunbeam big enough for the three of us while Draco made sure everyone nearby was still distracted.

Nico was much paler than he had been a few minutes ago. "Torture…" he muttered. "Got to get away… got to warn Percy…"

_Styx!_ He must have been reliving the Labyrinth. And the harpies… was he picturing Ariana and Morgana?

We reached the ground. Nico had tears streaming down his face. "Harpies," he whispered. "So many of them. Morgana and Ariana showed up later in the Labyrinth, but first I had to battle five of them, with just my sword. They captured me, brought me to their nest, and tried to eat me. It was like… like cannibalism. In the Labyrinth. Ariana and Morgana. Harpies."

I knew this was bad. Nico had been so overly cautious since Bianca had died, and in normal circumstances, he would never have given up information about the demigod world so willingly.

Draco looked at me worriedly as Nico sat down on a rock. I sighed. "Draco, I'm going to ask you to pretend you never heard any of this," I insisted. "Renee would kill me if-"

"She already knows I know," Draco said quickly. "Oh gods, I wanted to tell you myself, and she was going to let me… but not like this."

I stared at Draco for a moment. He was pulling something out of his backpack. He whispered a spell I didn't catch, and then he handed Nico what appeared to be a cold cloth.

Nico buried his face in his hands, and Draco sat down beside him on a rock. After a few seconds, he looked up at me.

"Shit," he said. "Quests. Harpies. The Labyrinth. Gods. Demigods. It's all real. _Shit_."

"You don't know the half of it," Nico retorted.

Draco sighed loudly. "No. I suppose I don't." He turned to the younger boy. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Nico looked at me, and it took me a moment to realize he was asking me for confirmation. I nodded and sat down as well. I'd need a moment to process all of this.

But before either of us could explain anything, there was a deafening yell from the area of the Quidditch pitch, and I knew we only had a few minutes before thousands of people filled the woods, exiting the match.

I turned to my brother. "Will you help cover for me? Or help us sneak back in unnoticed?"

"On one condition," Draco said. "You find a time to tell me exactly what is going on that I don't know about, and you and Renee tell me the whole, complete, truth about the demigod world."

* * *

**_A/N: so, this chapter didn't really go in the direction I had planned. I knew I didn't actually want to write the full World Cup, but the idea to include Nico's reaction came to me very late in the process. I will play this up in the coming chapters as well._**

**_Anyway, I'm sorry if this one was a bit of a filler. The next chapter will deviate a lot from canon, and I'm really excited to write it._**

**_Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this. Please review._**

**_~Celia_**


	6. Unknown, Unremembered, Unseen

_**A/N: Standard disclaimer: All characters and setting belong to J.K. Rowling, except for my original characters Clara Bradley, Renee Sanderson, Tomasz Ruddernot (mentioned), Gill Bellis (mentioned), Sandra Ballias (mentioned), Nolan Avery (mentioned), Franklin Morrison (mentioned), the Harpies Agnes and Cajun (mentioned), the House Elf Dizzy (mentioned) and Morgana Fletcher (mentioned). Nico di Angelo and Percy Jackson (mentioned) belong to Rick Riordan. I am making no profit from this story.**_

* * *

**Nico POV**

"No. Not… them."

I'd never experienced this feeling before. I suppose some would call it PTSD, or post-traumatic stress disorder. I knew Clara, for some reason, reacted harshly around snakes, and maybe I was the same way with the Harpies. All I know is that one moment the veela women were really pretty, and the next time I looked, there were Harpies everywhere. I guess they weren't really Harpies, but…

* * *

"_Psst. Nico."_

"_Minos? I thought I told you-"_

_Minos pointed at something in the distance. There was a shimmering image of Percy and his friends trying to fight off a skeleton army. There were more than I'd ever seen. "Your friends are in grave danger," the king said. "Come, before they are overpowered. Only you can save them, my Lord."_

* * *

"Torture…" I muttered. "Got to get away… got to warn Percy…"

* * *

_The ghost king led me down through the cattle guard and back into the Labyrinth. "This way, Nico, I can sense them. We are getting close."_

_I couldn't sense anything. But seeing is believing, and I had seen Percy in danger._

_The first thing I noticed was a grove of trees. They looked almost normal, except that we were in the Labyrinth, and also, the trees were black and twisted._

_Then, they descended upon me. Five of them._

"_Our prize," they screeched collectively. "A young, delicious demigod for us to feast upon."_

_The largest one pierced my shoulders with her talons. "Up you get," she cackled menacingly. The other four circled around her, making sure she didn't loosen her grip. Minos had disappeared, and I was all alone. I was starting to question whether I could actually trust the old king. Why had he brought me here? I didn't see any signs of Percy or his friends anywhere. It didn't seem like demigods had been to this place for millennia._

"_So nice of you to stop by," one of the Harpies screeched. "We hardly ever have guests."_

"_Demigods are the best," another one cackled._

"_Hang on. I thought Harpies hated demigods."_

"_Oh, yes," the one carrying me said nastily. "As humans, they are most despicable. But as prey, they are the best gift a Harpy can ask for. We're here."_

_I looked at my surroundings. The Harpies had placed me in a nest made of bones. I didn't want to think about whose bones, about a hundred feet in the air. I closed my eyes tightly._

"_Aww," one of the Harpies mocked. "The little demigod thinks if he closes his eyes, he'll only be dreaming. Isn't that sweet?"_

"_More like a little salty," another Harpy responded._

_The largest one dropped me with a thud. "You know what I love most about demigods?" she asked her companions._

"_What?" they demanded, cackling loudly._

"_There are always more where they came from. Cajun, Agnes, search the area. His companions can't be far!"_

_The two smallest Harpies took off, and I knew I had to stall. Despite what the Harpies thought, I had no companions. I never would._

"_You're wrong!" I said, shaking. "I have no friends." Well, it was true. Except… if Clara and Percy knew I was down here, would they help me? I had to warn them!_

"_No friends, demigod! Ha! A likely story!"_

"_I've been all alone my entire life," I insisted. "My sister died last year." I swallowed hard. "Nobody will come for me."_

_The Harpies laughed. "Nonsense. Then they will send a quest, demigod. And you know what that means…"_

"_A FEAST!" the other Harpies screamed with glee. "A proper feast! And we can sacrifice their bones to Kronos!"_

"_Nobody is coming for me," I insisted. I thought again about Clara and Percy. I knew they wouldn't actually come. They wouldn't help me now._

* * *

But they _were_ helping me now. Clara summoned a sunbeam. "Hey bro. Let's get you somewhere quiet. The stadium must be overwhelming."

Stadium? What stadium? Was this the arena that all demigods had to pass through to get to Daedalus's lab? I squinted at Percy… no, not him… someone else… I'd met this guy before, but it wasn't Percy… I'd need to be careful…

* * *

"_Shall we kill him now?"_

"_Oh yes," I begged. "Please, get it over with."_

_The lead Harpy noticed my fear. "Kill you now? I think not, demigod. We will eat you alive!"_

"_Starting from the legs up!" Another Harpy cackled. "Then after that, it's on to the organs! We'll see how long we can keep this one alive, and make him watch his own demise!"_

_Suddenly, a shadow swooped over us, and there were two more Harpies flying over us. One had stark white hair and one black wing, and one bloodred one. The other one was smaller, with dark red hair and shiny black wings._

"_You will do no such thing!" the larger one screeched. "This demigod is ours for the taking! He will aid our master greatly!"_

"_Hello, Morgana," the largest one from my original group said nastily. "I'd invite you to join us, but you're not like the rest of us, are you?" She spat. "You refuse to eat demigods, don't you? Ah, but we could eat you."_

"_You're disgusting!" the smaller of the new Harpies retorted. She had a softer voice, one that almost sounded human. "The boy is ours. We have strict orders from the master!"_

_The Harpies laughed. "Oh, you have orders from the master, is that so? Well then, why did _he_-" she gestured to a figure directly below us - "bring this lovely snack to us instead of you?"_

_I looked down, and I gasped. There, below us, was the ghost of King Minos._

"_Kaylee said to bring him to the Harpies," the ghost said. "I was only doing my duty."_

"_You idiot!" the Harpy called Morgana yelled, and there was definitely something about her that sounded a lot more human as well. "She meant _us_! Not these bloodthirsty… you know what, never mind! When you get your mortal form back, I'll slap you so hard you'll wish you were still a ghost! I don't know why they thought using you would help!"_

_His mortal form? I glared at the ghost king, realizing what he had been planning all along. How could I have been so _stupid_?_

* * *

I was shaking like mad as Clara's sunbeam lowered me onto the ground in the middle of the woods. The woods? Where was I, again? This wasn't the Labyrinth. That other kid wasn't Percy.

Before I knew what I was doing, I started talking, more quickly than I thought I was capable of.

"So many of them. Morgana and Ariana showed up later in the Labyrinth, but first I had to battle five of them, with just my sword. They captured me, brought me to their nest, and tried to eat me. It was like… like cannibalism. In the Labyrinth. Ariana and Morgana. Harpies."

I sat down on a rock. The boy who wasn't Percy had a whispered conversation with Clara and then pulled something from a bag. Then he pulled out a stick of some sort and said a few words that sounded Latin. He handed me a cold cloth, and then sat next to me.

"Shit," he said. "Quests. Harpies. The Labyrinth. Gods. Demigods. It's all real. _Shit_."

"You don't know the half of it," I said. There was something I should know about this kid.

He sighed audibly, and then turned to me. "No, I suppose I don't. Do you want to talk about it?"

I stared at Clara, trying to ask her if we could trust this kid. She nodded after a moment, but then there was a loud noise, and something in my mind clicked. I was in the middle of the woods, at some sporting event, I remembered. And then everything came crashing down on me.

_Wizards. Hogwarts. The Quidditch World Cup. Draco Malfoy, who I'm not supposed to like, but feel inexplicably drawn to. Who saved my life from Ariana and Morgana. And saved Clara and Renee. And helped me buy my wand. And is Clara's brother. And wizards. Styx._

* * *

**Renee POV**

"Ireland wins!" Bagman boomed, sounding shocked. "But Krum gets the Snitch. Oh, they'll be talking about this one for years!"

Fred and George grinned and high-fived. "Thanks, Clara," they said, looking over past me. "Hey, do you want a cut?" Fred asked.

"Wait, where did she go?" George said, looking at the spot where Clara should have been sitting.

I looked around nervously. Almost immediately, I noticed Nico and Draco were gone too. _Styx_!

There was a flash of light, and then the three of them appeared in their seats.

"What happened?" I hissed at her. "Where were you?"

"What? I've been here the whole time."

"Clara!"

"Okay, fine. Who else noticed?"

"Fred and George noticed you were gone, but I was the only one who noticed about Nico and Draco, I think."

"Okay, good. Nico had an issue when the veela turned into Harpy-like creatures. He froze up a few minutes ago. I noticed and helped him get to the woods, where it was quiet, and he could process his thoughts. Draco noticed he was having trouble and came down and…" she narrowed her eyes. "He _knew_? And you didn't tell me?"

I sighed. "Clara, he wanted to talk to you about it himself. He only told me this morning, when he helped me get past Roberts with a Ministry guest pass."

"Ministry guest pass? I thought you-"

"Shh!" I looked around, but most people were paying attention to the players, who were doing a victory lap around the Top Box. "Look, I told Draco… well, um… Draco told me three months ago that Narcissa would want to meet with you at the World Cup. With all the craziness this summer, I never got a chance to talk to you about it. But I think you should hear him out.

Nico had pulled out a Mythomagic figurine and was looking at it strangely. Draco had gone back to watching the players with everyone else. Even so, I had the feeling they were both listening closely to Clara's and my whispered argument.

Clara started messing with her hair, and I could tell that she didn't want to be having this conversation at the moment. I kind of agreed, and so I pointed out something about Viktor Krum instead.

* * *

"Are you guys still interested in Tomasz's party?" Ginny asked. "I've been thinking about it, and I'm not sure if I want to go. It's mostly going to be Slytherins and a few Hufflepuffs, isn't it?"

I glanced at Clara. I had completely forgotten about the invitation to the party. It would give us the perfect excuse to go to Draco's and not make the Weasleys suspicious.

We were back at the tent and had just eaten sandwiches for dinner. Everyone was happily discussing the match, except for Clara and Nico, who were playing exploding snap in a corner. Next to Nico was the Mythomagic figurine he had been playing with earlier. Looking at it more closely, I realized it was the Hades one that Bianca and Percy had gone through all the trouble to give him. I was glad he still had it.

It was about 10:00 in the evening. I would have expected everyone would be asleep, but I also knew Slytherin parties often went way into the night. All around us, everyone was celebrating the Irish victory. I stepped over to the woods and pulled out a Drachma.

"Draco Malfoy," I whispered into the night.

Draco was sitting on a feather bed in what appeared to be a private room in his tent. I wanted to say something about the tent, but I held myself back. After all, he said it hadn't been _his_ idea.

Draco turned toward the Iris message almost instinctively. A small smile played on his lips as he noticed me.

"Rebirth."

I smiled too. I didn't want him to call me that in public, of course, but I didn't really mind if it was just in his own room.

"I don't know all the details," I said. "But thank you for helping Nico today. When you're with him, I see a whole new side of you. Why is that?"

Draco smiled, and it was clear he was hiding something. "He's a lot like me at that age," he said quickly. "If I had had a positive guiding figure in my life, I might not have turned out, well… so much like my father, I guess. Renee, I'm serious when I say I don't want to turn into him. I just don't know how to keep it from happening."

"Is he still there, in the tent?"

Draco shook his head. "Thankfully it's just me and my mother now. Maybe you and Clara can come over?" he sounded hopeful.

"Sure," I agreed. "Yeah, we'll be right there."

I waved my hand over the message and walked back to our tent. "Clara, we should go."

"Do you think they'll mind if I'm only wearing this?" Clara asked, gesturing to her jeans and T-shirt.

"You'll be fine," I reassured her. I didn't think she realized my plan.

"Have fun," Ron said.

"Try to be back by midnight," Arthur told us.

Percy had a sour expression, and I could just hear him mutter the word "Slytherin," before Ron cut him off with a glare, and Fred and George started to talk about how everyone was so prejudiced nowadays. I smiled, knowing that my friends had my back.

"We'll calm him down," Ginny reassured us. "Go have fun."

Nobody noticed the shadow that trailed us as we left the tent.

* * *

"So where are we _actually_ going?" Clara asked as we walked past tents.

"Tomasz's party. Why would you think otherwise?"

Clara smirked. "Because his tent is back _there_."

Clara was on to me. "Okay, fine, you win," I said as we neared Draco's tent. "I couldn't tell you when we were close to the Weasley tent, but we're going to see Draco and your mother."

"I knew it! Renee, you could have-"

"You _know_ they would have kept us from going. Harry, Ron, and Percy especially."

Clara shrugged. We approached the door of the tent, and Clara knocked.

Narcissa Malfoy opened the door, which was a real door, and not just a tent flap. She ushered us in quickly.

"Come in," she whispered. "Draco said you might be coming over." She hugged Clara, and Clara awkwardly hugged her back. "Oh, you've grown so much since the last time we talked!"

The last time they saw each other, Clara would have been eleven. Now, she was almost fourteen.

Draco stepped out, levitating four cups of tea with his wand. He brought them over to a coffee table set up in what appeared to be the tent's living room, and then gestured for us to sit next to him on a couch. I was honestly a little upset about the complete lack of anti-Muggle security he was showing. But on the other hand, I doubted the Malfoys really cared how many times poor Mr. Roberts was obliviated.

Draco had positioned himself on the far edge of the couch. He gestured for Clara to sit next to him, which I was a little surprised by. I placed myself on her other side, and Narcissa sat in an armchair across from us.

"I hope you like mint herbal tea," Draco said. "We didn't bring anything strong."

"It's my favorite," Clara said. Narcissa and Draco smiled knowingly at each other. "Wait… it's both of your favorites too?"

Clara looked uncomfortable at the fact that she shared something so arbitrary with her family. I held back my laughter and sipped my tea.

After a few minutes, a House-Elf brought out some little cakes and then hurried away.

* * *

**Clara POV**

"So, I only know a very limited part of the story from your father," Narcissa began, but I cut her off.

"Hang on. First, I'd like to know how Draco knew about us."

Draco gave a sigh of annoyance, and then he and Renee told me about the research he had done, and I relaxed a little bit. So Narcissa really _hadn't_ told him. I was both relieved and impressed.

"So wait," I said after they had finished their explanation. "You've kept in contact with my father?"

Draco looked curiously at his mother with this information too.

Narcissa smiled wistfully. "A few times. The first time was when you got your quest, right after you showed up at camp. He was supposed to contact me when that happened, but he never called, and so I decided to call him around your eleventh birthday. Well, actually, it had to wait until around six months after, what with Draco's first year. But I called when you were eleven, and that was the first time I've talked to him since. He persuaded me to meet him in London in a few weeks time, and I agreed."

"A few weeks?" I asked. "So he knew the quest was going to go wrong, and go on _that_ long?"

My mother raised her eyebrows. "Clarissa, what happened?"

"It's a long story," I said, looking away from either of the Malfoys, and directly at Renee. She squeezed my hand encouragingly.

"Which we _will_ tell, but first, I want you to finish yours."

I glanced warily at Renee.

Narcissa nodded. "I left him, and then we didn't talk for another few months. Not until you got petrified."

Draco raised his eyebrows. "You talked to him _then_?"

"It was a few months after, and I was so worried. I asked him to heal her."

"But direct interference is against the ancient laws!" Renee protested. We'd heard that one quite a few times over the last couple years.

"Ah, so that explains it. Anyway, I was angry. I said if he actually cared about you, he had a funny way of showing it. We screamed at each other and then I hung up on him. But he called me back, and do you know what he did to redeem himself?"

Narcissa looked on the verge of laughing. Renee, Draco, and I looked curiously at her.

Narcissa grinned. "A haiku. Ending in 'Apollo is great.'"

We all snorted into our cups. Draco looked confused.

"My father is the god of poetry, among other things," I explained for my brother's benefit. "His poems are notoriously bad. And he's been stuck on a haiku stage for most of this century, according to my friend Zoë, and she said before that he was on a limerick stage for ages. Zoë's an immortal Hunter of Artemis, so she's seen everything. Well, she was. She died last winter."

Renee squeezed my hand again. Talking about fallen friends was hard. Zoë, Bianca… and now we'd have to add Lee to the mix. A tear slid down my cheek. With the coming battle when Percy turned sixteen, I knew we would have to anticipate even more.

"What's got you mixed up in their nonsense?" Narcissa asked. "The Hunters, huh?"

"First of all, it's not _nonsense_," Renee insisted. I knew she was thinking of Thalia, her other best friend in the demigod world, and the current lieutenant of the Hunters. I put a hand on her shoulder and she relaxed.

Narcissa didn't press the matter. "Well, I'm not surprised to learn about the limericks, I guess. He tried that after the haiku. It was… it was a stronger sentiment, and we made up."

Draco raised his eyebrows. "And then? Did you talk to him after that?"

Narcissa shook her head sadly. "Things were heating up with Sirius Black, and I didn't think it would be wise, in case he found out about the gods and that some of their children were living among us."

I stared straight ahead, pointedly not looking at Renee. The Sirius story was one thing that we would absolutely not be bringing up in this discussion.

Narcissa didn't notice. "Well, that, and in November, Draco wrote me an interesting letter."

Draco went pink. "_Mother_!" he whispered.

Renee smiled. "So you wrote to her to ask about Clara? I thought you said your mother wouldn't tell you-"

"I refused to tell him anything about your father," Narcissa said evenly. "But at Christmas, we did speak privately about you, out of earshot of Lucius, of course. I cast a silencing charm around the room we were in, quite similar to the one I am using now in this tent."

I nodded. I hadn't even bothered to think about secrecy, so I was really glad that someone else had. I saw Renee visibly relax as well.

"So then you wrote to us at Christmas, and you never stopped trying to figure us out after we confirmed?" Renee asked. "That's, well, kind of impressive, Draco."

Draco smiled a genuine smile. "Thank you." He turned to me. "Now, I believe you said you would tell me everything?"

I groaned. I didn't want to, but I _had_ agreed when he helped me cover up with Nico. And surprisingly, Renee wasn't protesting either.

"Okay," I began. "The story might be a little shaky. There's a lot of things we haven't told any other wizards, including Harry, Ron, and Hermione."

Draco scoffed. "So you've told _them_ about the demigod world before you told _me_?"

Renee glared at him for a moment. "Yeah," she said. "We trust our friends."

Draco was about to retort, but then he seemed to realize the last part of what Renee had said. _We trust our friends_. I knew her well enough to know that Renee was implying that Draco _was_ a friend, and someone we could trust. Draco seemed to understand this too.

"So our first quest was when we and Percy Jackson showed up at the camp," I said. "Percy's a son of the Big Three, and supposedly the subject of a prophecy. That's where everything started…"

Together, Renee and I explained the _Andromeda Jean_ and the discovery that Luke was working with Kronos. Narcissa paled at this information.

"This sounds almost like…" she and Draco exchanged a look, and I was pretty sure I knew what they were thinking. Kronos's attempted rise reminded me of the rumors about Voldemort, rumors that seemed very close to true, considering how Tom Riddle had enticed Ginny and me in our first year, and about the prophecy Professor Trelawney had told to Harry and Renee last year.

"So that wasn't as bad as some other quests," Narcissa said. "Apollo told me… well, he told me when you first got a quest, and I was very worried."

"Why would he tell you?" I asked.

Narcissa shrugged. "Who knows? But I'm glad your quest wasn't dangerous. So I assume you just spend the summers training now, and the threat of Kronos has been taken care of?"

Renee and I exchanged a glance. Distant thunder rumbled, and Renee paled. "Don't say his name. Names have power in our world. It's not like Vol-"

"Shh!" Draco snapped. "Please, don't say it. It-"

I squeezed Renee's hand. In reality, people here did actually think saying Voldemort's name was like invoking the names of one of the gods or titans.

"So, I take your ominous glance and your reluctance to say the name to mean that yes, he is still out there."

Narcissa glanced worriedly at the door. A while ago, we had heard yells from all the parties, but now the screams had changed. It sounded like-

"Torture," a voice muttered.

"Nico! What are you doing here?"

We all turned as the younger boy stepped out of the shadows. Outside, someone screamed again.

Nico stepped closer to us. "I followed you. I have just as much of a right to be part of this discussion, you know."

Narcissa walked over to the door. What she saw made her swear loudly.

"What is it?" Draco asked shakily.

Narcissa looked uncomfortable. "It's… people. In masks. And they're torturing some Muggles. Levitating them."

Draco paled. I followed his gaze to the windows, and saw a lot of people running toward the woods.

"Come on," Renee said. "We should get out of here."

* * *

**Renee POV**

I was tense. From Narcissa and Draco's reactions, I had a feeling that they knew the people under the masks. And then something clicked.

"Styx," I muttered. I wasn't going to share my realization that Draco's father was likely among the torturers. Hadn't Draco said he was having a meeting with some of his old friends, including Mr. Parkinson, Mr. Goyle, and Mr. Crabbe? It would only make sense that people like them were torturing Muggles at this event.

"Come on. We should go." People were fleeing to the forest. In the distance, I saw a glint of red hair, and I felt immediately guilty. If our friends ran into Gill, Sandra, Franklin, Nolan, or Tomasz, they would know that we never showed up at the party.

"Sunbeam?" Clara asked.

"No," Nico insisted before anyone else could say anything. "There's too many people, it's too risky!"

He had a point. Narcissa looked directly at Draco. "You are the only one who is safe with the Death Eaters," she muttered. "You have to lead the three of them to the woods."

Draco stared at her for a moment. I reached out a hand to him. I could guess the conflict he was going through. If we ran into his father…

"I'll help hide us," Nico said. "But we have to move. Quickly."

Nico concentrated on the shadows. After a few seconds, Narcissa nodded approvingly. "You won't be seen. Good job thinking quickly, Mr. …?"

She trailed off, and I realized she hadn't properly met Nico.

"di Angelo," Nico said. "Now, stick close. I haven't tried hiding _other_ people with these before… let's go."

He set off with a burst of speed I never would have expected from him. We followed as best we could.

As we approached the woods, Nico looked sick.

"Rest," Clara said. "I know what this is like. Overexertion. Here, lean against this tree for a moment."

Many children and teenagers were running toward the woods, but most of the adults had gathered around the circle of Death Eaters and the levitating Muggles. Suddenly, there was a familiar yell.

"What happened?" said another familiar voice anxiously. "Ron, where are you? Oh, this is stupid - _lumos_."

A moment later, everyone around us was thrown into light. "Tripped over a tree root," Ron said angrily.

"Well, with feet that size, it's hard not to," Draco drawled.

Gods, now was not the time. Clara looked ready to slap him. Why was he so great around us, but so awful around everyone else? I hated it.

Ron told Draco to do something he would never have said in front of Mrs. Weasley. Then, our three friends turned to Clara, Nico, and me.

Harry's expression changed suddenly. He looked like he was going to hurt someone, probably Draco. Ron looked confused. Hermione looked hurt.

"You three had better have a good explanation for this," she said, glaring at us. "We were worried _sick_ when we found out you weren't at Tomasz's party. And _you_, Nico!" She looked back at Draco again. "Why?"

Draco stepped away from us, as if to dissociate. I wasn't sure if that was for his benefit or ours. "Hadn't you better be hurrying along, now? You wouldn't like _her_ spotted, would you?"

He nodded at Hermione as a blast that sounded like a bomb went off in the distance.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Hermione demanded.

"Granger, they're after _Muggles_," Draco said.

"Hermione's a witch," Harry snapped. "Clara, Renee, Nico, come on, let's go."

"Have it your own way, Potter," Malfoy said, grinning maliciously. "If you think they can't spot a Mudblood, stay where you are."

Ron had his wand out in a flash. I knew I had to diffuse the tension. We had to keep moving.

"Well, it's lucky that we have three demigods, a half-blood, and two purebloods with us," I said, looking individually at each of my friends. "We have to keep moving. Nico, can you…?

"He's in no state to work with more shadows," Draco said angrily. "Look at the poor kid!"

Harry, Ron, and Hermione stared at us for a moment. Draco had just been _nice_ to someone who was with us.

Draco turned to Clara. "I think now's the time for your sunbeams, if there ever was a time," he prompted.

"Wait," Ron demanded. "_You_ know about that?"

Clara didn't actually look like she was in much of a state to work with sunbeams either, now that I looked at her closely.

Draco smirked.

"Come _on_," I demanded, using charmspeak. "We have to stick together. Where are the others?"

"We were with Ginny, Fred, and George, but we got split up," Hermione said hurriedly. "Renee's right, though, we need to keep moving."

"I'm not going anywhere with _him_," Ron insisted.

"Well," Clara said quietly after a moment. "I'm not leaving him."

"What?" Ron yelled. "Just because he's your brother-"

"Wait," Draco said. "_You_ know about _that_?"

We stood staring at each other for a moment; Draco facing Ron, Hermione facing Clara, and Harry facing me. Nico stepped up next to Draco, and Harry, Ron, and Hermione shifted their attention to him.

"Harry," I pleaded. "You get it, right? Would you leave me? Even when we fight, I'm still like your sister, and-"

"Okay, fine," Harry said, his gaze still on Nico. "But on _our_ terms."

"No," Clara said, stepping more toward the center of the group. She glanced at me, and I stepped up near her, to show that we were willing to take the middle ground. "On _ours_."

Everyone stared at us, but Clara didn't back down. I'd never seen her like this, so assertive in the face of both Draco and Harry.

"Harry, Ron, Hermione, you won't insult Draco. You won't pull your wands on him or attempt to hurt him in any way while we run to the woods. Draco, _you_ will also not insult any of our friends or try to harm them. You will not call Hermione that disgusting term for a Muggle-born, or say anything derogatory about Ron's family, and you will try to hold back the Death Eaters with us if they come after us. Are we clear?"

I was impressed. Usually it would be me who made these kind of commands, and with charmspeak. Clara so rarely found herself in a position where she had to negotiate between Slytherins and Gryffindors.

The noises got louder as the crowd moved closer to the woods. I grabbed Clara's hand and we glanced around at our friends. Nico stepped away from Draco and closer to us. Then at the same moment, Draco and Hermione also stepped closer to us. Harry and Ron glanced at each other, and then moved slightly closer.

"Good," Clara said. "Now, everyone light your wands, and let's go."

I fumbled around in my bag for my wand. The others did the same, except Nico, who looked confused.

"Ah, no, I don't believe it," Harry said after Draco, Ron, Clara, and I had lit our wands. "I've lost my wand!"

"You're kidding!"

Harry, Ron, and Hermione turned to glare at Draco. "You were behind us in the Top Box," Ron spat at Draco. "What did you do?"

For the second time in less than a week, Draco looked like a deer caught in the headlights. "I swear I didn't touch it," he said nervously.

"_Malfoy_," Harry said venomously.

Draco looked at us for help, and suddenly I knew what to do. "Swear on the Styx," I whispered. If I didn't trust Draco, I wouldn't have said it, but I was positive that he didn't take Harry's wand.

Draco looked at the ground. "I swear on the Styx that I didn't take Potter's wand," Draco choked out. Thunder rumbled overhead.

"Thank you," I whispered.

"Come on," Hermione said. "We should find the others."

A rustling noise made us jump, and then Winky the House Elf limped out of the bushes. It was almost as if someone invisible were trying to hold her back.

"There is bad wizards about!" She squeaked distractedly. "People high in the air! Winky is getting out of the way!"

She scurried away into another clump of bushes. Draco looked at the ground again.

"What's up with her?" Ron muttered.

"I bet she didn't have permission to hide," Draco said haughtily. "Our old House Elf, Dobby, he was always doing things without permission. He-"

I glared at Draco. I would prefer him not to talk about Dobby in front of Harry right now. Harry looked around uncomfortably.

"He got fired after my second year," Draco said, realizing our reactions. "Father never said… he was pretty odd. Our House Elf now, Dizzy, is much more well behaved."

Hermione scoffed. "You know, House Elves get a _very_ raw deal," she said indignantly. "It's slavery, that's what it is! That Mr. Crouch made her go up to the top of the stadium, and she was terrified, and he's got her bewitched so she can't even run when they start trampling tents! Why doesn't anyone _do_ something about it?"

Draco frowned. "Oh. I should have asked my mother if we could bring Dizzy with us. But maybe she'll send her away. House Elves can apparate and disapparate in their own ways too."

Ron cut him off. "Well, the elves are happy, aren't they? You heard old Winky at the match… 'House Elves is not supposed to have fun'… that's what she likes, being bossed around…"

"Yeah," Draco said. "I mean, I can't believe I'm agreeing with Weasley about this, but Dizzy is happy serving us. She-"

"It's people like _you_, Ron, and _Malfoy_, even more so, who prop up rotten and unjust systems just because they're too lazy to-"

"Alright, stop it, all of you!" I commanded. "We can discuss House Elf rights later. We have to keep moving."

Draco and Ron glanced warily at Hermione and Nico. I wondered if it was at all true that they were in more danger because they were Muggleborns. Well, Nico wasn't, technically, but people didn't know that. And did that extend to Clara and me as well?"

We kept moving. Clara and Draco walked close together, and I wondered at that. What had changed in him that he was now so close to his sister? In the past week he had saved our lives, helped a boy he didn't really even know to get his wand, used a ministry pass to get me into the Quidditch World Cup, helped Clara make Nico more comfortable, and was now running from Death Eaters with me and my friends. And Clara… she had come a long way from the girl in the Hufflepuff hidden room who accidentally let it slip that she and Draco were related. I was proud of both of them.

We ran past a patch of silver light. As we got closer, I saw three _veela_, surrounded by a group of older teenagers. They were all talking really loudly.

"I pull down about a hundred sacks of Galleons a year," one was saying. "I'm a dragon killer for the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures."

"No you're not!" his friend yelled. "You're a dishwasher at the Leaky Cauldron… but _I'm_ a vampire hunter. I've killed about ninety so far."

Something pulled me toward those veela. They really were very pretty. Before I knew what I was doing, I stepped forward. "I'm the youngest model and fashion correspondent _Witch Weekly_ has ever had! I started there when I was twelve, and now-"

Ron cut me off. "Did I tell you I've invented a broomstick that'll reach Jupiter?"

"A likely story!" Draco scoffed. "But me, I've killed eighty werewolves in the last month alone! I-"

I felt something warm wrap around my waist, and something dragged me, Draco, and Ron back to the group. Looking down, it was a sunbeam. I glanced around. Why had I behaved that way around the _veela_ anyway? That wasn't like me at all.

"_Honestly_," Hermione said, exasperated.

We walked to the heart of the wood. "I reckon we can just wait here, you know. We'll hear anyone coming a mile off," Harry said.

Nico sat down on a rock, looking relieved. The rest of us followed suit, but just as I was about to sit down, Ludo Bagman emerged from behind a tree right ahead of us.

Even by the feeble light of the wands, we could tell that Bagman had changed a lot since this afternoon. He no longer looked buoyant and rosy-faced; there was no more spring in his step. He looked very white and strained.

"Whos there?" he demanded, blinking down at us as if trying to make out our faces. "What are you doing in here, all alone?"

We looked at each other in surprise.

"Well," Ron said. "There's, er… some sort of riot going on."

Bagman looked at us confusedly. "What?"

"At the campsite," I said. "Some people have got hold of a family of Muggles." I felt Draco tense beside me.

Bagman swore loudly. "Damn them!" he said, and then Disapparated with a soft _pop_!

Harry and Ron started to discuss Bagman, but I was paying more attention to everyone else. Ron had taken out his miniature figure of Krum, and they were watching him walk on the rock. Nico looked at his Hades Mythomagic figurine, and I wondered if I should teach him a spell to animate things. Draco was watching him closely, too. Hermione and Clara were discussing something in hushed tones. I closed my eyes for a moment. Maybe I could just rest for a moment…

My eyes flew open at the rustle of footsteps in the grass. It sounded as though someone was staggering toward our clearing. We waited, listening to the uneven footsteps behind the grass. Then, as suddenly as we had heard them, they came to a halt.

"Hello?" Harry called shakily. He stood up, and Clara and I did as well. We glanced around the trees, but it was too dark to see very far, and I knew Clara wouldn't risk using sunbeams right now.

"Who's there?" Draco asked, coming over to join us. I'd never heard him sound nervous before, but now he seemed downright terrified.

And then, without warning, the silence was broken by a deep voice unlike any other that we'd heard in the wood or at the match. It uttered, not a panicked shout, but something that sounded like a spell.

"_MORSMORDRE!"_

Something vast, green, and glittering erupted from the area we had been staring at. It flew up over the treetops and into the sky.

Ron sprang to his feet, but I was paying more attention to Draco. "No," he whispered. "No. It's not possible. It hasn't been seen for…"

"Thirteen years," Hermione finished. "Malfoy, I don't want to be helping you, but since Clara insisted we bring you along, I think I have to. Hide, okay? And Renee, go with him."

I couldn't figure out what was wrong, but before either of us had a chance to do anything, there was a series of popping noises, and about twenty ministry wizards apparated onto the scene.

We whirled around, and as we were getting our bearings, I registered one fact: all of the wizards had their wands out, and all of them were pointed directly at one of us.

"DUCK!" Harry yelled. I felt Draco's strong hands push me to the ground.

"STUPEFY!" Twenty voices yelled, echoing in the woods. I felt a powerful _woosh_, as if of wind, fly past us, and then bounce off the trees where the spell had seemingly come from.

"Stop!" yelled a familiar voice. "STOP! That's my son!"

"And mine," said a softer, female voice.

I raised my head slightly higher. The witch directly in front of me had lowered his wand. Arthur Weasley and Narcissa Malfoy came striding toward us, looking terrified.

"Ron - Harry -," he said, his voice shaky. "Hermione, Clara, Renee, Nico! Are you all right?"

"Draco!" Narcissa shouted, running toward her son. "What happened?"

"Out of the way, Arthur, Mrs. Malfoy," said a cold, curt voice.

It was Mr. Crouch. He and the other ministry wizards were closing in on us. Harry and I jumped to our feet to face them. I thought about my training from the summer. I would need a lot of the new charmspeak techniques I had worked on.

"Which of you did it?" Crouch snapped, his sharp eyes darting between us and resting on Draco and Nico.

Nico held his gaze. "We didn't do that, sir," he said calmly, looking at the skull in the sky. I wondered at his reaction. He was a little shaky, and I thought about the fact that the symbol was a skull. I wanted to reach out and comfort the younger boy, but Draco motioned for him to sit down with him. I was truly in awe of their relationship, and the fact that it happened over a span of less than a week. Nico never opened up to anyone, but now there was Draco, who was actually similar to Nico in a lot of ways, and the younger boy… I was really glad he was a wizard. I imagined this world would make life suck a lot less for him.

"We didn't do anything," Ron echoed, rubbing his elbow. "What did you want to attack us for?"

"Do not lie, sir!" shouted Mr. Crouch. His wand was still pointed directly at Ron, and his eyes were popping. He looked slightly mad. "You have been discovered at the scene of the crime!"

"Barty," whispered a witch in a long, woolen dressing gown. "They're kids, Barty, they'd never have been able to-"

"Where did the Mark come from?" Mr. Weasley said quickly.

"Over there," Hermione said, pointing over to the place where we had heard the voice.

Draco stepped slightly closer to us as well. "There was someone behind the trees… they shouted words… an incantation…"

"Oh, stood over there, did they?" said Mr. Crouch, turning his bulging eyes on Hermione and Draco now, disbelief etched all over his face. "Said an incantation, did they? You seem to know a lot about how that Mark is summoned, sonny. Tell me, aren't you Lucius Malfoy's boy?"

Most of the other ministry wizards were shaking their heads. It was clear that they didn't believe that any of us could have cast it, although some of them were looking curiously at Draco again.

"We're too late," said the witch who had spoken earlier. "Whoever it was will have Disapparated."

"I don't think so," said another wizard. "Our Stunners went right through those trees… we might have caught them…"

Mr. Diggory stepped forward. A few people whispered for him to be careful. I stepped closer to Clara and put my arm around her. Nico looked offended by something.

A few seconds later, we heard Mr. Diggory shout. "

"Yes! We got them! There's someone here! Unconscious! But… blimey… it's…"

Amos Diggory reemerged, carrying a tiny, limp figure in his arms. I stared as I realized the figure was Winky the House Elf.

Mr. Crouch stared at his elf. "This… cannot… be," he said weakly. Then he walked off into the woods, to the spot where Mr. Diggory had just been.

"Bit embarrassing," Mr. Diggory said grimly. "Barty Crouch's House Elf… I mean to say…"

"Come off it, Amos," said Mr. Weasley quietly. "You don't seriously think it was the elf? The Dark Mark's a wizard's sign. It requires a wand."

"And she _had_ a wand."

"_What_?" said Mr. Weasley.

"Here, look." Mr. Diggory held up a wand and showed it to Mr. Weasley. "Had it in her hand. So that's clause three of the Code of Wand Use broken, for a start. _No non-human creature is permitted to use or carry a wand._"

Hermione gasped a little ways away, and I rolled my eyes. She hadn't known anything about the lives of House Elves until today. Why did she suddenly care so much?

There was another _pop!_, and Mr. Bagman apparated into the midst of everyone. He chatted with the other ministry wizards, but I wanted to get a closer look at the wand Mr. Diggory had found. It looked very familiar, just from the glimpse I had gotten of it.

Mr. Bagman seemed very confused as he talked to Mr. Crouch and learned what was going on.

"_No_!" He said when Mr. Crouch had finished his explanation. "Winky, conjure the Dark Mark? She wouldn't know how! She'd need a wand for a start!"

"And she had one," Mr. Diggory said grimly. "I found her holding one, Ludo. If it's all right with you, Mr. Crouch, I think we should hear what she has to say for herself."

Mr. Crouch gave no sign that he had heard Mr. Diggory, but the latter seemed to take the former's silence for assent. He held out his wand toward Winky. "_Ennervate_," he muttered."

Winky was visibly terrified as she moved into a sitting position.

"Elf!" Mr. Diggory yelled. "Do you know who I am? I am a member of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures!"

Winky began to rock back and forth.

"As you see, elf, the Dark Mark was conjured here a short while ago," Mr. Diggory continued. "And you were found minutes later, right under it! An explanation, if you please!"

"I… I… I is not doing it, sir!" Winky gasped. "I is not knowing how, sir!"

"You were found with a wand in your hand!" Mr. Diggory barked, brandishing it in front of her. Harry and I recognized it at the same moment.

I gasped, at the same time Harry said, "That's my wand!"

Everyone in the clearing looked at us. Clara put a hand on my shoulder.

"Excuse me?" said Mr. Diggory, incredulously.

"Yeah, that's his," I confirmed. I'd seen him use it enough times to know. "He dropped it."

Draco looked relieved, and then some people turned to him.

"Is this a confession?" Mr. Diggory said quietly.

Mr. Weasley and Mr. Crouch started to argue with him, and then they performed a spell to see what spell the wand had last performed. Everyone gasped as a shadow of the skull that hung in the sky appeared from Harry's wand.

Mr. Diggory interrogated Winky some more, and then he and Mr. Crouch argued about whether or not he was blaming Crouch. I kind of tuned out, and it seemed like most of my friends had, until a tall, official-looking wizard in the back spoke up.

"Be that as it may," he said, responding to something another wizard had said, "I do not believe we can pardon all wizards in question without further interrogation."

Everyone looked curiously at him.

"Many people know," he said, "that Mr. Potter and Mr. Malfoy are enemies at school. Mr. Malfoy was sitting directly behind Mr. Potter during the match today, and may well have taken the opportunity to steal his wand then. And given Mr. Malfoy's family history, I think it would only be right for us to take him in for questioning."

I glanced at Clara, but surprisingly, she wasn't looking at me. Instead, she was having a silent conversation with her brother and her mother. I knew that if the Ministry took Draco in for questioning, he would be in danger because of his father, as well as from any Ministry officials who were to dig up anything on his family.

"Actually," Nico spoke up, "Draco was sitting directly behind _me_. I was next to Clara, who was in front of his mother, and she was next to her husband, who was behind Renee. _Renee_ was next to Harry. So he would have had to reach past his parents and over four other people to get Harry's wand, and that's assuming that he would even _care_!"

Narcissa looked impressed at Nico, but the Ministry official didn't seem bothered.

"There are spells," he said. "The match was loud. He could have whispered one, and nobody would have noticed."

"Yeah," I said hotly, "but why would he?"

Clara nodded emphatically. "Besides, how would he have been able to cast it? We would have seen him."

Once again, we stood on separate sides, facing each other. I couldn't believe that Harry, Ron, and Hermione weren't even willing to help when they _knew_ Draco was innocent in this matter. This wasn't simply about a school rivalry. For Draco, it may have been life and death.

"How can we believe them, that he was with them?" the official asked. "They are just kids! They could be accomplices, for all we know!"

Draco, Clara, and Narcissa looked at each other. I glanced nervously at my friends. Harry looked at the ground, and then took the tiniest of steps forward.

"He… he was with us the whole time," Harry said unsteadily. "I know you won't take their word for it, but will you take mine? I'm the boy who lived! _I'm Harry Potter_!"

I noticed him wince a little bit when he called himself that, and it reminded me of Nico when he said he was the ghost king, back in Daedalus's workshop. Both were titles that would follow him around, and neither of the boys liked these. But sometimes, revered titles were necessary, even when their holders despised and disregarded them most of the time.

Surprisingly, the Ministry official backed off. Narcissa gave an audible sigh of relief. "If I may, I will leave with my son," she said with a note of finality. "Good day, sirs."

She took Draco gently by the arm and led him away, and her son didn't protest.

"Well, I think I'll take my lot back to the tents, if nobody's got any objections. Amos, that wand's told us all it can - if Harry can have ir back please -"

Mr. Diggory handed Harry his wand, and Harry Pocketed it. As we walked away, Mr. Crouch was reprimanding Winky in front of everyone. The last sound we heard was the elf's horrible sobs as Mr. Crouch fired her.

* * *

I knew there would be a lot of questions about why we were with Draco, and what had happened before we met up with Harry, Ron, and Hermione. But while Arthur and the trio went to the boys' tent to discuss the evening's events, once everyone knew we were safe, I decided to retire to my room in the girls' tent. Clara followed me a few minutes later. She lay down on the mattress we were sharing and squeezed my hand.

"What a night," she said quietly.

"Yeah…" I said, but a million other thoughts were racing through my mind.

"Gill was pretty worried this morning when I told him you couldn't get in," she said. "What are you going to tell him about tonight?"

I sighed, thinking of my boyfriend. I had missed him, but our last encounter had been kind of frosty.

"I'll just tell him I got busy with the Weasleys," I said slowly. "And that the time escaped me."

"Harry, Ron, and Hermione knew we weren't at the party," she reminded me. "Which means that they probably ran into one of them."

I groaned. "Well, then, I'll just have to get Harry and the others to cover up for me."

"What are we going to tell _them_?" she asked. "You saw how upset Hermione looked. And Harry, he looked like he was going to hurt Draco."

I sighed. She had so many questions that I couldn't answer. It reminded me of the night I had stayed up with Sandra a few months ago. She had had a lot of questions I wasn't sure about back then, too.

"I'll probably tell him a half-truth," I sighed. "And maybe Draco can help me cover that up too."

Clara smiled, and I smiled back. "I'm really glad you're getting along with him now, you know. He _is_ your brother, and I told him I'd help him to change. He's… he doesn't want to be like his father, but he doesn't know how not to.

"I think saving us was easily the first step," Clara said. "It got me to spend time with him, and we actually have a lot in common. I think, if he continues being the person he's shown himself to be this past week, I'd be willing to call him my friend. And of course, there's the stuff with Nico."

"It's strange," I said, my mind somewhere else. "The people who we take to, I mean. The people we try to fix. Draco and Nico. Me and Draco. You and me."

Clara met my gaze. "You think _I_ fixed _you_?"

"You saw kindness in me," I said. "You saw something I didn't see in myself. And I saw something Draco didn't see in himself. And Draco, I think, sees Nico in a way he doesn't feel about _himself_, either."

I smiled to myself, and Clara's eyes widened.

"Hey Wren?" she asked, her voice barely a whisper.

"Yeah?"

"There's no possibility… I mean… well, you don't, well… _like_ him, do you?"

"No!" I protested. "I'm in love with Gill! I'm sure…"

I trailed off. I could tell Clara wasn't convinced. And when it came to that, I wasn't actually sure I was, either.

* * *

_**A/N: So that was my next chapter. Sorry this one was a bit long. I had a lot I wanted to say, and I felt like it all had to fit in this chapter. The next chapter will start off the school year, including Nico's sorting, so that's exciting. Then I'll do probably one chapter between that and the arrival of the other schools. I'm really excited to dive into **__**Goblet of Fire**__**!**_

_**Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this. Please review. And Happy Thanksgiving to those who are reading, I love my readers!**_

_**~Celia**_


	7. When Third-Years Attack

_** A/N: Hey I'm back. As always, standard disclaimer: All characters and setting belong to J.K. Rowling, except for my original characters Clara Bradley, Renee Sanderson, Tomasz Ruddernot, Gill Bellis, Sandra Ballias, Nolan Avery, Morgana Fletcher, Ariana Gordon, Kaylee Parkinson, Franklin Morrison (mentioned), and Rachel Samson (mentioned). Nico di Angelo, Hazel Levesque, Annabeth Chase (mentioned) and Percy Jackson (mentioned) belong to Rick Riordan. I am making no profit from this story.**_

* * *

**Renee POV**

"So who's this 'theft of death' guy, anyway?"

Nico had been strangely quiet since the World Cup. For days, he had been reading in the Weasleys' small home library. When he had found out all he could, he came to us.

"Who?" Clara asked.

"Voldemort. That's the literal translation of Voldemort."

"In French," I muttered. "Of course." I looked at the younger boy. "How did you know that?" I thought about what I had just said. "How did _I_ know that?"

"Well, that's one of my many talents," Nico said, almost smiling. "I know the word for 'death' in every language known to man. So 'mort' is French. I just had to figure it out from there."

He looked at each of us in turn. "Why didn't you tell me?" he said quietly.

Clara looked at me uncomfortably. "We wanted you to get acclamated in this world a little bit better before we dropped this on you, Nico. You already face enough as a child of the Big Three in the upcoming war."

"Obviously we weren't expecting something like this to happen," I added quickly. "I'm really sorry, Nico. We should have said something earlier."

Nico blinked at us, surprised. "You actually wanted to do that? I mean, you cared about my feelings enough not to spoil my enjoyment of this new world?"

"Of course we care about your feelings," I insisted.

"Are you charmspeaking me?" Nico demanded, looking hurt.

"Nico, no," I promised. "And if I am, it's only because you need to hear it. We care about you, Nico."

The younger boy hung his head. "Sorry," he mumbled.

"Don't apologize, Nico." I sighed and patted the spot next to me on the couch in Ginny's room. "Look, I know it's hard for you to understand after losing Bianca, but there are a lot of people out there who care about you. Me and Clara, for a start. And Percy and Annabeth… and Draco. I've never seen him react around anyone the way he treats you. I've never seen him take care of anyone the way he does for you."

Tears formed in my eyes, and I turned away from Nico. I thought about what Clara and I had talked about at the Quidditch World Cup. She's always seen me in a better light than I ever saw myself as, and at the beginning of our relationship, far more than I deserved. I guess I paid that forward to Draco, and now he was taking that kindness even further with Nico. It made me immensely happy. And of course, Nico was happy, for the first time in at least six months.

"I had flashbacks," Nico said suddenly. "Of my old life, before the Lotus, when I saw the Dark Mark. That's never happened before. I've never been able to remember anything."

"Flashbacks?" Clara said sharply. "Are you okay?"

"Did you remember anything that would help you with your past?" I asked kindly.

"There was… there was a war. In Europe. And there was a guy named Adolf Hitler, who had all these followers… and in Italy, where I grew up, there was another guy, Benito Mussolini… Voldemort reminds me of those guys. The way he has followers and a special symbol. You know?"

Clara and I tried not to look at each other. I don't think either of us had fully realized Nico had lived through World War II.

"It's okay," I told Nico. "I understand that comparison. They're all, well, really bad men. And they did have followers and dictatorial power. And, well, they're all dead."

Nico stared at us. "I don't actually think Voldemort is," he claimed. "And I know you two don't, either."

"You're right," I said. "But he's dormant right now. We don't have to worry about him, okay Nico?"

"I read that Voldemort and his followers sent their Dark Mark into the air whenever they killed," Nico said, as if just remembering. "Just picture coming home and finding it over your house, and knowing what you would find inside." He choked back a sob.

"Why am I a wizard when Bianca wasn't a witch?" he asked suddenly. "I wish we had known about this world… about, well… you know."

He looked each of us in the eye. Guilt ate at me. There was still so much we hadn't told him.

Hopefully we could get a private train compartment with Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and maybe Neville on the ride to Hogwarts. There was so much I needed to talk to everyone about.

Clara looked as if something was bothering her. "You read all that?" she asked quietly. "I thought your dyslexia was worse than that of most demigods."

Nico gave us a small smile. "Well, I, uh…" he fiddled with something in his back pocket. I glanced down and realized it was the black wand from Ollivander's. "I tried that spell that your friend, the professor… the one she used. _Graeca Transferendum_."

I raised my eyebrows. "That's a pretty complicated spell, Nico. Is the wand working well for you?"

Nico shrugged. "I tried some basic stuff. It's not bad. The wand's made of ebony, which is a very black wood, so it's kind of fitting for me."

Mrs. Weasley called upstairs to remind us to pack, and we realized we should probably break up the demigod party.

"Let me know if you need any last minute things," I reminded Nico as he walked out of the room, the shadows dancing behind him.

* * *

As soon as I stepped onto the platform the next morning, a dark shape came flying at me, and without any warning, my boyfriend was kissing me.

"Gill," Sandra admonished from somewhere behind me, "please do that in private." She glanced over her shoulder where a black woman, a blonde woman, and a curly-haired, mustachioed man were chatting. I figured those were my Slytherin friends' parents.

Clara and Nico shook their heads and muttered something about going to find a compartment. I pulled away from Gill before Molly and Bill and Charlie showed up.

Only those three had been able to accompany us to the train today. This morning, we had come downstairs to find Amos Diggory's head in the fire, calling Mr. Weasley away because of an urgent issue with a "Mad-Eye Moody." Apparently, this guy was a famous retired dark wizard catcher who was easily spooked, and Mr. Weasley and Mr. Diggory hoped to get him off on some minor charges for something that had happened last night. Percy, of course, was immersed in his Ministry job. Not that we missed him much.

Gill stepped back, and then glanced around, as if he were looking for someone. Then, he stared at me. "You better have a good reason as to why you missed Tomasz's party last week," he said in a low voice.

Sandra and Tomasz exchanged a glance, and started to back away.

"Gill," I said icily. "Can we please talk about this later?"

Sandra nodded. "At least let her get settled in."

"Can we talk on the train?" Gill asked, not meeting my eyes.

"I…" I sighed. "I need to talk with Harry and the others about some things."

"You've been with them all summer!" Gill protested.

"Just this past week," I argued. "And we need to talk about some things that we only want Clara, Ron, and Hermione to know about right now. It has to do with the World Cup."

Gill raised his eyebrows. "Oh, so it's Harry," he said quietly.

"What? I mean, yeah, he's my friend. I need to talk to him about stuff."

I couldn't read Gill's expression. "Go talk with your friends," he said flatly.

"I promise we'll talk tonight, after the feast."

"Just go."

I walked away, not really sure what had just happened.

On the train, I walked past a group of Gryffindors including Dean Thomas, Seamus Finnigan, Lavender Brown, Rachel Samson, and Nolan Avery. As I walked past, Nolan stood up.

"Hey, Renee," he called after me.

"What's up?" I didn't talk to Nolan much, but he was Tomasz's cousin, and a nice enough kid. He was in my year, too.

"Have you talked to Gill yet?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"Well… he kind of… he thinks that… never mind."

"Nolan," I pleaded. "What's going on?"

Nolan took a deep breath. "Hethinksyou'restringinghimalong," he confessed in a single breath.

"What?"

"Gill… he thinks you're cheating on him with Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy and God knows who else. He thinks you're stringing him along."

"_What_?"

"We all stayed over at the Ruddernots' the night after the match," Nolan said, looking around. "Me, Tomasz, Franklin, and Gill. Gill confessed this to all of us guys, and I'll have you know, we think he's being stupid. Sandra too. We know you see Harry as a brother, and you don't even like Draco, you're just trying to deal with him for Quidditch. He told us about Diagon Alley as well. If you ask me, Clara's probably the one who's into Draco. I know you can't stand him."

I tried to keep a straight face as he said that last sentence. I knew Clara and I would be laughing about this later. Clara? Into Draco? _Yeah, well, he's her brother, so that's a solid no._

"What do you want me to do?" I asked Nolan.

"We all know you love Gill," Nolan insisted. "Be sure to show him that. We can go to Hogsmeade this year. Make some of those experiences dates. Explore the castle with him. Let him buy you ice cream."

I felt guilty at those last words. Was there any way he could have seen us at Florean Fortescue's the other day?

"If I may ask," Nolan said, "what _were_ you doing on the night of my cousin's party? We missed you and Clara."

"We were…" I needed to think quickly. "Draco wanted to sneak out and find Krum or Lynch to get some Seeker tips. Since I've played Seeker before, he wanted me to come as well. Clara wouldn't let me go alone with him. So we were wandering the campsite in search of the Quidditch players' tents. And I couldn't tell Harry that, because we play Seeker _against_ him."

I hoped I'd be able to find Draco and tell him this was the lie I ended up telling my Slytherin friends. I'm sure he would help.

"Why did you agree?"

"He offered to let me play Seeker more, since I won against Gryffindor as Seeker." I winked at Nolan as he grimaced, realizing I was talking about beating his team. "But only if I helped him talk to the Quidditch players. He knows I can be very persuasive."

"So you did the Slytherin thing and abandoned your friends for a bit of power," Nolan said. "Typical."

"What would you have done?"

Nolan laughed. "Probably the same, Renee Sanderson. Probably the same."

As I walked away to find Clara, Nico, and the others, I smiled to myself. I wanted to get to know Nolan better. He was actually very nice, and it was obvious my Slytherin friends had elected him as a third party to try to break the (imagined) tensions between Gill and me.

I was sure Draco would buy the lie. It sounded exactly like the kind of thing he might have done under different circumstances.

* * *

I wanted so badly to rant to my friends about the issues with Gill, but Ron had more pressing matters to discuss.

"Okay," he said as I settled in with him, Hermione, Harry, Clara, and Nico. "He's your brother, _that_ I get. But why in the world would you have gone with him willingly at the World Cup?"

Nico glared at him and Harry. "He saved our lives," the younger boy muttered. "The harpy girls and their friend were going to kill us in the fireplace."

"What?" Hermione gasped. "What are you talking about? Harpy girls? And the fireplace… do you mean Floo powder?"

I sighed, but before I could say anything, there was a commotion in the corridor outside.

"Give it back!" a younger girl yelled.

"Oh, but it'll work so much better on me," a silky voice said.

"Besides, she's injured," another girl said. "She could use it more!"

Hermione and I drew our wands at the same time, and Clara summoned a sunbeam. If I wasn't mistaken, there were at least two, maybe three, third year girls in the corridor that none of us wanted to deal with.

The younger girl shrieked, and Hermione wrenched the door open. "_Accio_!"

A golden chain flew out of Ariana's hand and into Hermione's. Clara threw a sunbeam at Kaylee, and I was about to take Morgana when I truly noticed her for the first time.

Suddenly, everything added up. She hadn't been seen since the Battle of the Workshop, where Nico had slashed at her wings. Even Draco said he heard her, but never saw her, at Parkinson Mansions. And now both her arms were wrapped up tightly in cloth that almost looked like solid gold. It looked like it took effort to move.

Harry and Ron had scrambled out after us, but I didn't think it was any of us they wanted.

Hermione was now comforting the younger girl, but I had to warn someone. What was it Draco had said about the conversation he overheard? "That boy. His cast-iron sword."

Nico had truly hurt Morgana, I realized. We couldn't tell him, not right now.

Kaylee shoved Morgana behind her, acting as a shield for her injured friend. Frankly, she showed a lot more concern than I would have thought possible from her.

I couldn't even use my nonverbal charmspeak to get a message to the others, because the girls would probably notice.

Hermione walked the younger girl over to our compartment, but I couldn't let her open the door. Otherwise, the girls would see that we had Nico.

There was a flash of light as Clara threw a sunbeam at the door, seeming to have realized the same thing.

Morgana laughed icily. "We broke through your wards once, we can do it again, cow!"

"Hey!" I yelled. I no longer cared that the towering, white-haired girl was injured. I lost sight of protecting Nico. All I cared about in that moment was that she had just insulted and exposed Clara.

"_Petrificus totalus_!"

"You'll pay for that!" Kaylee yelled as the spell maneuvered around her and hit Morgana. "You'll bloody-"

She had her wand at my throat in a split second. She smiled cruelly. "I. Will. End. You," she said, pronouncing each word sharply.

Clara screamed and tried to fling a sunbeam at her, but she deflected it with her wand. It landed on Ron's chest, and Clara and Harry bent down next to him. Hermione was still comforting the younger girl.

"Avada-"

"_Expelliarmus_!" another voice yelled. "_Stupefy_! _Stupefy_! _Stupefy_!"

I looked up to see who had come to help us, and the bright blond hair shocked me. "Draco?"

"Rebirth, are you okay? Is Nico okay? And Clara?"

I stared up at the older Slytherin for a moment, and he extended his hand to me. I took it and pulled myself up.

"We're all fine," Clara said from somewhere behind me. From the sound of her voice, she was clearly as surprised by Draco's appearance as I was.

Ron groaned. "He's not, though," she said. "He got hit with one of my sunbeams, right in the chest. I don't know what to do!"

* * *

**Clara POV**

To say I was panicking would be the understatement of the century. Kaylee and Ariana had attacked a random girl, a first year from the look of it, out of the blue. And then there was Morgana, with her weird golden arms that kind of reminded me of Kronos. I remembered Nico had slashed at her wings during the Battle of the Workshop, but I hadn't realized he had truly cut her arms off.

Hermione helped the younger girl, and I tried to throw a sunbeam at Kaylee, but it ricocheted and hit Ron. Harry and I tried to help him, but there was a deep burn wound. When I next looked up, Kaylee had her wand at Renee's throat. She would have killed her, without a second thought.

She would have, but my brother showed up. I don't know why, or how he knew to come, and I'm shocked.

Draco asked if everyone was okay, and I pointed at Ron. Draco's expression hardened.

"Okay. We'll handle this together," he said in a stressed voice. "Is the mudblood - ah, Granger - is she with you?"

I wanted to slap Draco, but I knew now was not the time. "She's in the compartment with Nico and the girl those three were torturing."

Draco relaxed slightly. "Okay. She might know a spell to help him. You try, as well. Tap into your dad's powers or whatever you demigods do."

"I'm not a healer, Draco."

"Well, maybe you should be." He glanced rudely at Harry, and I got the message. This wouldn't be the last time someone was injured around us. He turned to Harry next. "Potter, you hide the bodies. Find a spare compartment, and take Nico with you. The stunning spell isn't easy to wake up from on their own, and it takes time, but I have no doubt they will be awake before we reach the school. We're only an hour in."

Harry glared at Draco. "Why are you trying to help us?"

Draco shook his head. "We can't risk spilling wizard blood, and as much as I can't stand the Weasel, his family comes from two strong pureblood lines, and those lines need to be kept alive. Also, Clara's my sister, and he's her friend. So I kind of feel like I should help. And then we can, you know, go back to being enemies."

He glanced over at Renee, and she gave him a small nod.

"What will you do?" I asked.

"Renee and I are going to go get help. Come on."

"What?" Renee demanded. "Why?"

Draco winked. "You're very persuasive."

I went back to the compartment to grab Hermione and Nico. The first year girl was still crying with Hermione, and somehow Hazel, the girl from Diagon Alley had slipped in while we were fighting. She was trying to comfort the other girl, too.

I quickly whispered what I needed Hermione and Nico to do. "Will you be okay here, Hazel?" I asked. "And…" I looked at the other girl, realizing we hadn't been properly introduced.

"Natalie," the girl said shyly. "Natalie McDonald."

"It's nice to meet you, Natalie," I said. "Look, Ron's in trouble, okay, and I kind of feel like it's my fault, so if we can just…"

My fault. Just like Bianca. I tried to look away from Nico, and he suddenly found a spot of carpet very interesting.

"We'll be fine," Hazel assured us, and then pulled out a deck of cards from her bag. "Natalie, do you know how to play Blackjack?"

We left the two girls, and my heart started racing. What if I had killed or seriously injured Ron? What if we couldn't heal him on time? What if…?

No. I wouldn't let myself go there. Hermione and I would work to heal him. It would be fine.

When I got back, Renee and Draco were already gone, and Ron was unconscious. Harry and Nico heaved up Morgana, Kaylee, and Ariana with the help of some of the shadows dancing around Nico.

I sat on the ground next to Hermione. A tear slid down her cheek as she held her wand over Ron.

"Vulnera Sanentur," I whispered, waving my wand, but I didn't even know what those words meant. That was the way Renee tried to heal Zoë Nightshade last year. The spell did nothing, though. Hermione looked distressed.

"I'm sorry," I said. "It's my fault."

Hermione's expression hardened. "It's that girl's! Clara, if she hadn't attacked Natalie, none of this would have happened. So don't ever claim it was your fault!"

Hermione tried a few spells, and then looked at me desperately. "Nothing's working, Clara. I don't know when Renee and Malfoy will be back, but I have to do something. Isn't there some healing song that all children of Apollo sing to your god to help the wounded?"

"I'm not a healer, Hermione, I already told Draco-"

"Well, maybe you should try," she insisted, looking at Ron. "Maybe, despite your sunbeams, you're just like your siblings in every other way."

"Fine," I muttered. I closed my eyes, trying to think of the song.

I started humming, and I sang softly. I wasn't exactly surprised that my voice was kind of off-key. I wasn't a singer, by nature. I was a hot-headed sunbeam thrower.

The burn wounds on Ron's chest grew paler. I gave an audible sigh of relief and tried again. This time, nothing happened.

"Dad!" I whispered loudly. "Dad, if you can hear me, please-"

The door to our area burst open, and Draco and Renee ran in, followed by an unfamiliar middle-aged man and an older woman I was pretty sure I'd seen before, but couldn't place.

"Did you manage to get anything?" Renee asked softly, sounding a little wounded herself.

"It cleared up a little."

"How?" Harry demanded.

Renee shook her head. "Later," I mouthed.

"I'm not a nurse or matron," the woman said. "But I know my fair share of spells. What happened?" She turned to us individually. "Was it a burn?"

Everyone glanced at me, and I groaned inwardly. I was never good at taking the lead in these situations; that was usually Renee's job. She and Draco stepped up on either side of me, and I took a deep breath. Renee squeezed my hand.

"I have a special brand of magic," I said, hoping to provide at least a partial truth. "I can summon the power of the sun."

"Did you intend to harm this boy or anyone else?" The witch asked cautiously, bending over Ron. The wizard pulled a quill and parchment from his bag and started writing down everything we were saying.

"They were attacked first," Draco insisted before I could say anything. "There were three third year girls who came in here and attacked them and a first year! If she used those powers on anyone, it was only because they harmed her and her friends first!"

I gave him a small smile. "I was trying to defend my friends," I agreed, looking at everyone around me. "Ariana Gordon stole something from a first year, Natalie McDonald. A chain of some sort, I think. We heard the commotion outside our compartment and the three of us went out to investigate, because we know the three girls who attacked, and we know them as bullies." I motioned to Renee and Hermione. "I used my sun powers because it was faster than scrambling for my wand."

The witch studied us. The wizard continued writing, an acid-green quill scribbling on its own alongside him.

"Gordon's friend, Kaylee Parkinson, tried to kill Renee Sanderson when the girls interfered," Draco said. "She put her wand to Renee's throat and said the first part of the killing curse. I happened to be passing by when she did, and I heard Parkinson…"

"He immediately disarmed her," Renee said firmly. "And then stunned Parkinson, Gordon, and their other friend Morgana Fletcher."

"So how did this young man get hurt?" the wizard asked, speaking for the first time.

"When Parkinson first held her wand to Renee, I tried to throw a sunbeam at her. She threatened to kill her because Renee put Fletcher in a full body bind after Fletcher insulted me."

"But," Harry added, and I gave him room near me, Clara, and Draco so that he could step up to speak, "the sunbeam ricocheted off Parkinson's wand and hit Ron in the chest."

The witch was still bending over Ron, both trying to help him and comfort a distraught Hermione at the same time. Nico blended into the shadows.

"Where is everyone else in question?" The man asked. "I'm filing an incident report, and I need to hear from everyone involved."

Draco and Harry glanced at each other, and I realized it was probably the first and only time they would ever look at each other without pure hatred. "Natalie McDonald, the first year, is in our compartment," Harry said, gesturing behind us. "And, er, the other girls, they, um…"

"I stunned them," Draco said quickly. "I gave Harry the girl's wand and told him and Nico to go and store the bodies in an empty compartment. They'll wake up, but none of us wanted to revive them just yet, considering they had nearly killed two of our friends."

"I can take you to them," Nico said.

The man nodded, and Nico walked away with him.

"Could a few of you check if there are any sixth or seventh year students training to be healers?" The witch asked. "I'll offer free snacks off the trolley for anyone who helps."

Ah, so that's who she was. The trolley witch.

I offered to go, and so did Renee and Harry. We set off in different directions. I made my way toward the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs, feeling horrible. I was supposed to be a healer, and instead, I had used my powers to harm a friend.

"Hey," a boy who looked sort of familiar called. "Clara, right? Rebecca's friend?"

I looked more closely at the kid. "Have we met?"

"I'm Harris," the boy said. "Rebecca's brother. Do you need something?"

I nodded, relieved. "Ron Weasley is injured at the other end of the train," I said in a rush. "It's pretty bad, and the trolley witch sent me to find an older student who's training to be a healer. Do you know anyone?"

Harris smiled. "Actually, Monica Lewis and Davis Yates are both in training," Harris said.

Another boy who I sort of recognized poked his head out. "Clara, right?" he asked. "Someone in need of medical assistance?"

It took me a minute to recognize the kid as Davis Yates, one of the Hufflepuff Prefects.

"Yes." I quickly explained the situation. Davis and the girl sitting next to him jumped up.

"Lead the way," the girl said.

I almost sunbeamed back to the compartment, but then I remembered I barely knew the two people with me. Instead, I ran as fast as I could. Monica and Davis kept pace easily, and we reached the corridor in no time.

Harry came in a few moments later with a dark-skinned girl, and Renee burst through the doors with Stacy Ballias.

"I'm not training to be a healer," Stacy explained," but I might be able to help.

I nodded.

Monica took command of the situation. "Okay, do any of you have a cloth? I'll do a water spell, and I need someone else to do a freeze spell…" she kept talking, but I was already ducking back inside the compartment for a cloth. I grabbed for the nearest suitcase, thinking it was mine or Renee's. I reached for the first thing I saw and pulled out a hideous, lacy, maroon dressing gown. With my wand I carefully cut one of the sleeves off.

"Everything okay?" Hazel asked.

"Yeah. We need to cure Ron's burn, though." I glanced at her and Natalie. "You okay?" I said to the latter.

"Yeah," she said in a small voice. "I hope you don't mind I brought my trunk in here. I didn't really like where I was sitting, but I like you."

"Yeah," I said. "That's fine."

"I grabbed mine as well," Hazel said.

Well. So much for talking privately about demigod stuff. I smiled anyway.

When I came back to the corridor, Ron was blinking awake. I tossed the bit of cloth to Monica and she and Stacy performed a few complicated spells on it.

"Where'd you get that?" Harry asked, looking amused.

"I tore it off a sleeve from the nearest trunk. Why?"

Harry chuckled. "No reason."

"I'll reattach it later."

Harry just smiled. I raised my eyebrows but he shook his head.

"Ron," Hermione asked after a few minutes of the older students switching off the cloth and the spells. "Can you hear me?"

Ron grunted. His eyes were still fluttering.

The trolley witch sized up the older students. "Yates, Lewis, Johnson, and Ballias, can you help me carry him? I think we should monitor him in the front compartment, up with me, Norwich, and the conductor. And if a couple of you could stay on hand…"

The black girl, who I assumed was Johnson, offered to stay and help. So did Stacy. Hermione jumped up as Ron was leaving.

"Do you mind if I go as well? To help him?"

The trolley witch helped guide the four older students on where to take Ron. The wizard, who I assumed was Norwich, turned to us.

"Do any of you have a fast owl?" he asked. "I need to send a copy of this incident report to the school, and the sooner it gets there, the better.

"My owl's pretty fast," Draco piped up. I jumped. I'd sort of forgotten he was there.

Renee narrowed her eyes. "The school knows your owl, though. You don't think that would look suspicious?"

Draco grumbled, but Renee had a point. "We can use mine," I said. "She's a little small, but she'll do."

Renee glanced over at me. "Can you also send a copy of the report to Professor Sprout at Hogwarts?" she asked. "She's kind of our caretaker while we're at the school. It's a complicated arrangement."

Norwich agreed, and I went back into the compartment again to grab Dusk. He thanked me and walked in the same way as the trolley witch with the owl cage.

Before I walked away, I realized something: I couldn't just keep calling the woman the trolley witch. "What's her name?" I called after Norwich. "The trolley witch."

He smiled thoughtfully. "You know, I don't think any student has ever asked her that, or asked me. It's Mildred. Mildred Ellen Jones."

"Thank you so much, Norwich," I said sincerely.

* * *

**_A/N: Sorry it's been so long! I had writers block with this for a long time, but now I can finally get fully into GoF. So excited!_**

**_~Celia_**


	8. Nico's Dilemma

**_A/N: As always, standard disclaimer: All characters and setting belong to J.K. Rowling, except for my original characters Clara Bradley, Renee Sanderson, Ariana Gordon (mentioned), Morgana Fletcher (mentioned), and Kaylee Parkinson (mentioned) Nico di Angelo, Hazel Levesque, Annabeth Chase (mentioned), Rachel Dare (mentioned), and Percy Jackson (mentioned) belong to Rick Riordan. The Sorting Hat's song is copied directly from Goblet of Fire. I am making no profit from this story._**

* * *

**Renee POV**

We walked back into the compartment without Ron and Hermione. Draco surprised us by following, and I thought Harry would object, but he looked too tired and upset to argue. Every few minutes, he got up and paced the compartment.

"Harry," I charmspeaked after the fifth time he did this, "there's nothing you can do. They'll be okay, I promise."

I had to hold out hope for Ron. The burn had been pretty bad from the looks of it. Clara blamed herself, and she stared out the window and didn't respond to anything we said. Draco looked over at his sister, and he showed more concern than I'd ever seen from him. Nico also looked upset.

Natalie spoke first. "I'm sorry you guys came out to help me. If I hadn't been there, you wouldn't have come out to help, and-"

I hated charmspeaking strangers or younger kids, but with Natalie it was necessary. "It's not your fault," I said firmly. "Tell me, did those girls lead you over here?"

"I guess," Natalie said. "I stepped out to use the bathroom, and the short redhead followed me." Natalie glanced down at her necklace, the one Hermione had stolen back from Ariana. "She used a spell to coerce this off my neck. I stepped outside, and her two friends ambushed me and led me back this way, away from my own compartment. Why?"

"Can you tell us a little bit about that necklace?" Draco asked.

Natalie paled. "I, um… well, I was diagnosed with leukemia. It got really bad, and the doctors said there was nothing they could do about it. Then I got my letter, and this man named Professor Flitwick showed up. He showed my parents some magic, and they cried and insisted that I would never be able to go, because I was going to die. The professor talked it out with my parents, and asked if I would mind them using magic to cure the disease."

"Oh," I gasped. "Natalie, I'm really sorry to hear that."

She shook her head. "I don't want your sympathy," she said. "I want to be treated like a normal kid. I'm a witch now, and that's who I want to be. I can start over now." She smiled.

"Professor Flitwick took me to a St. Mungo's outpatient branch, and they tried a lot of things. There was this one panacea potion that worked really well when it came into contact with my skin, but it wasn't permanent. Professor Flitwick and the healers at St. Mungo's figured out a way to charm it permanently into this necklace, and to make the potion think it's touching my skin when it's actually just touching the clear bead near my neck."

Draco looked closely at the necklace. "Of course," he said after a moment. "The Dragonfire cure-all. I'd recognize it anywhere." His eyes went wide.

"What's up?" I asked.

"Well, I hadn't realized… Morgana…"

I tried not to look over at Nico, but he was fast asleep anyway. "She needed it… her arms…" He looked around. "And she thought stealing from a first year was a good way to get it! I don't understand why the Parkinsons couldn't have taken her to St. Mungo's, though."

"Probably got it doing something illegally," Harry muttered.

I nodded. If Hazel and Natalie weren't here, I would tell Harry and Draco right then and there everything that had happened this summer. But the only thing I could do was look each of them in the eyes and hope they got the message. I never would have imagined I would be in a place where I could tell Harry and Draco about anything together.

Hazel spoke up for the first time. "So, what exactly happened? I was just passing by."

Draco nodded. "Something about a necklace?"

Harry and I explained the situation as best we could. We made small talk for a little while, and then Draco decided to go back to the Slytherin compartment. Harry followed him out of the compartment to go check on Ron and Hermione. Hazel and Natalie fell asleep quickly, and I followed suit.

* * *

Apparently, the trolley lady had seen us all asleep and left some free stuff for us: a few bags of chocolate frogs, a large box of Bertie Bott's beans, and a couple sticks of Drooble's Best Bubblegum.

I'd have to thank her later. She and Norwich, the assistant conductor, had dropped everything when Draco and I explained the situation, and she had known how to help. Now, she had selected some of our favorite candies without even knowing us. Maybe she'd paid better attention in previous years than anyone gave her credit for.

I glanced around the compartment. Harry and Hermione were back and already changed into their robes. The others were just waking up.

"You all should get changed," Hermione said quickly. "McGonagall's meeting us at the school."

Nico and Harry stepped out of the room while we changed, and then we afforded Nico the same courtesy.

We dismounted the train. "Firs' years, over here!" Hagrid called, and Nico, Hazel, and Natalie made to follow them. Hermione shook her head. "Nico, Natalie, you stay here. McGonagall wanted to talk to you as well, to get a full picture."

"I'll come too," Hazel said hopefully, glancing at the lake. It was raining hard, and I could see why she didn't want to go in the boats with the other first years.

Draco met us a few minutes later as we walked to the carriages. I gasped as they pulled up. Last year they had been horseless, but this year they were pulled by things I could only describe as black skeleton pegasi.

"What's pulling the carriages?" I asked

"You okay?" Draco whispered. "There's nothing pulling the carriages. Just like every year."

Clara stepped up near me. "Stop messing with her. Of course there's something pulling them. Not like last year."

Harry and Hermione glanced at each other. "No, there really is nothing. Are you two messing with _us_?"

"What's the big deal?" Nico asked everyone. "They're giant skeleton horses with wings. You don't see them?"

Harry, Hermione, Natalie, and Draco shook their heads, but Hazel nodded. "Come on," Harry said anxiously. "Let's get in." He shot a glare at Draco, and Clara and I exchanged a glance. Silently, we decided to sit between the two of them so we could avoid any trouble.

We sat in silence on our way to the castle. As soon as we reached the looming turrets, McGonagall ushered us up to her office. She performed drying spells on all of us and motioned for us to sit down.

A knock sounded at the door, and Snape and Sprout came in. "We've located them, Minerva," Snape said. "They were hiding in the back carriage and had bribed other Slytherins not to disclose their location, but I have them in my office now, with the door sealed."

McGonagall nodded. "So," she said. "Ronald Weasley's in the hospital wing now, with a bad burn wound." She glanced at Clara. "We received Norwich's report, and we want you to know that we will be taking disciplinary action on the girls in question." She narrowed her eyes at Snape. "_Won't_ we?"

The greasy-haired professor looked nervous, for once. "Of course, Minerva."

"Can you tell us what happened?" Sprout asked kindly. "In your words, I mean?"

Natalie told them what she had told us, making an effort not to look at Snape. I could tell the Slytherin head made her nervous. To be fair, she wasn't the only one. And I _am_ a Slytherin. But after the Shrieking Shack… I blinked, trying to focus on something, _anything_ else.

We added our parts of the story, and then Draco talked about how he'd stumbled on the scene.

The professors raised their eyebrows. "And what, may I ask, were you doing over near Potter and his companions?" Snape sneered.

"I was, er…"

"Coming to bother Harry, Ron, and me, no doubt," Hermione muttered under her breath.

"So what if I was?" Draco said defensively. "I saved Renee Sanderson." He glanced up at the professors. "Kaylee Parkinson had her wand at Renee's throat, and she said the first part of the killing curse."

"So that's what that spell is? It's not the first time one of them has tried to use it on one of us."

Sprout raised her eyebrows, and I remembered who we were in the company of. She didn't know that Draco knew, and Natalie and Hazel definitely didn't know about us either. Except for Sprout, nobody knew that Kaylee, Ariana, and Morgana were involved with Luke. Both of the times I had been about to tell my friends the full story, someone had been attacked, drawing our attention from what we needed to say.

A knock sounded at the door, and Madam Pomfrey ushered Ron into McGonagall's office. He looked completely healed, but a little dazed.

"Ah, Weasley," McGonagall said. "Good to see you're doing well."

Before Ron could respond, Hermione and Harry threw their arms around him. McGonagall and Sprout smiled, and Snape glanced at Draco with an annoyed expression on his face.

Professor Sprout stepped out into the hall with Madam Pomfrey while McGonagall questioned Ron to make sure our stories checked out. He surprised everyone by nodding semi-politely at Draco and then pulling Clara into a hug. "Please don't tell me you think it's your fault."

Clara smiled at him, her first one since the incident. "Thanks."

"Well, I believe that's everything of importance," Snape muttered uncomfortably. "Come, Draco."

Draco raised his eyebrows at me behind Snape's back, but then followed the professor out. I had no idea whether he was asking me what was going on, or why Snape didn't hurry his _other_ student out, or anything about this. As for me, this whole week had been a mystery with Draco. Around him, everything was different.

Madam Pomfrey looked me over, making sure I didn't have any lasting effects from the curse that was almost cast on me. She muttered something about how lucky I was and told me to report to her or Snape if I ever had any issues. I looked at the ground. More like her and Sprout. I'd never trust Snape, not after last spring in the Shrieking Shack.

McGonagall double checked a few things and then sent us on our way. She kept Nico, Natalie, and Hazel with her so she could take them out to meet the other first years.

Nico glanced nervously at us. "Is the sorting bad?" he whispered to Clara and me.

"The hat only probes your thoughts a bit, is all," I explained.

Nico went pale.

* * *

**Nico POV**

McGonagall looked around nervously after she led Natalie, Hazel, and me into a foyer of some sort.

"Something wrong, Professor?" Natalie asked cautiously.

The professor frowned. "Hagrid and the others should be here by now," she said slowly.

I studied the room we were in. There were some paintings on the wall. I studied one with a man and a centaur. I blinked, and the centaur disappeared.

I squeezed my eyes shut. It wouldn't be the first time I was seeing things.

"What's up?" Hazel asked as we waited.

"I, um, I'm probably going crazy," I muttered. "I thought there was a centaur in that painting a moment ago."

"You're not going crazy, Mr. di Angelo," McGonagall said absently. "Paintings and pictures in the wizard world move around and act like their subjects. It will take some getting used to." She smiled dryly.

"That's so cool," said Natalie, grinning.

The doors burst open, and about fifty soaking kids stumbled in. They all shivered and glanced nervously at a large man who was leading them. He nodded at the professor and then made his way into the Great Hall.

McGonagall began to talk about the houses. Clara and Renee had given me the basic information, so I kind of tuned out. I already expected I would be very hard to place. I wasn't cunning the way Renee and Draco were, so I couldn't see myself in Slytherin. Though I was sensitive, I wasn't kind, and I wasn't that hardworking, either, so I wouldn't be sorted into Hufflepuff. With my severe dyslexia, I definitely wasn't Ravenclaw material. As for Gryffindor, I was only brave because I had to be.

We walked into the Great Hall, and I was still lost in my own thoughts. I observed the room as we came in. At the nearest table to the door, Renee was sitting with her boyfriend and some other people, and they were all talking quietly. A bit further down the table, Draco was sitting with a few older students. He looked puzzled, as if he didn't quite know where he was supposed to be. All the students' robes had green trim at that table. I glanced at their flag, a large banner depicting a serpent.

The only person I recognized at the next table over was the blonde girl who I had met briefly before we took the Portkey to the World Cup. Everyone at her table wore blue-trimmed robes, and their mascot was an eagle.

I stared. If they were called Ravenclaw, shouldn't their mascot be, you know… a _raven_?

Clara sat at the table after that. She was laughing about something a girl with frizzy blonde hair was saying. She waved when she saw me. I studied their yellow-trimmed robes and wondered why, out of all the animals they could have chosen, the Hufflepuffs were represented by a badger.

I recognized the most people at the table in the back of the room. From what I knew about the houses' attributes, their colors and mascot made the most sense.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione were talking casually about something. Next to them was a boy who looked about Clara and Renee's age, and a ghost. I smiled to myself. If there were ghosts here, I would feel more at home.

McGonagall placed a shabby hat that was ripped in a few places on a small stool. The entire hall went quiet, staring at the hat. Some first-years near me shivered with anticipation.

Suddenly, one of the rips on the hat widened. There were gasps as the rip started to sing.

* * *

_A thousand years or more ago,_

_When I was newly sewn,_

_There lived four wizards of renown,_

_Whose names are still well known:_

_Bold Gryffindor, from wild moor,_

_Fair Ravenclaw, from glen,_

_Sweet Hufflepuff, from valley broad,_

_Shrewd Slytherin, from fen._

_They shared a wish, a hope, a dream,_

_They hatched a daring plan_

_To educate young sorcerers_

_Thus Hogwarts School began._

_Now each of these four founders_

_Formed their own house, for each_

_Did value different virtues_

_In the ones they had to teach._

_By Gryffindor, the bravest were_

_Prized far beyond the rest;_

_For Ravenclaw, the cleverest_

_Would always be the best;_

_For Hufflepuff, hard workers were_

_Most worthy of admission;_

_And power-hungry Slytherin_

_Loved those of great ambition._

_While still alive they did divide_

_Their favorites from the throng,_

_Yet how to pick the worthy ones_

_When they were dead and gone?_

_'Twas Gryffindor who found the way,_

_He whipped me off his head_

_The founders put some brains in me_

_So I could choose instead!_

_Now slip me snug about your ears,_

_I've never yet been wrong,_

_I'll have a look inside your mind_

_And tell where you belong!_

* * *

Most people around me seemed to think a talking hat was weird, but I'd seen much stranger at my time at Camp Half Blood. The Great Hall rang out with applause.

Professor McGonagall unrolled a long scroll. "When I call out your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool," she explained. "When the hat announces your house, you will go and sit at the appropriate table."

I hoped for any house but Ravenclaw. If I had to sit with people, at least it should be someone I know. If not, I might have ended up sneaking over to the Hufflepuff table to sit with Clara.

"Ackerly, Stewart," McGonagall called.

Stewart Ackerly looked around nervously before scurrying up to the hat.

"RAVENCLAW!" the hat shouted.

I clapped, along with the blue-clad table and the rest of the first years. I knew I had to stay alert as they went through the rest of the A's, B's, C's, and the first part of the D's so I didn't miss my own name.

"Baddock, Malcolm."

"SLYTHERIN!"

The applause from the Slytherin table was deafening. I noticed Ron's brothers, Fred and George, mocking the Baddock boy, and I felt bad for him. He was just a first year. Renee was nice, and Draco had saved my or my friends lives three times in the last two weeks, if you count my incident at the World Cup. Surely they weren't actually all what their house was made out to be.

"Branstone, Eleanor," and "Cauldwell, Owen" became Hufflepuffs, and Clara and her friends looked genuinely happy to have them at their table. I noticed the boy from the world cup, Cedric. A silver badge engraved with "HB" rested on his chest.

A mousy boy named Dennis Creevy became the first Gryffindor, and the young boy I had noticed sitting with the Daughters of Darkness's fourth year friends jumped up and down from excitement.

I gulped as "Damien, Barton" was sorted into Ravenclaw.

"Dartford, Julia" became a Hufflepuff, and then it was my turn.

"di Angelo, Nico," McGonagall called.

I stepped up to the stool. My legs felt like lead.

McGonagall placed the hat on my head, and it shuddered violently. Clara, Renee, and Professor Sprout looked around worriedly.

The hat spoke after a moment, seeming to regain its composure. "I have only ever met four students with as much true darkness inside of them as you hold, Nico di Angelo."

I swallowed. "Can they hear you?" I whispered to the hat.

"No. Only you."

I nodded. "What darkness do you sense?" I thought at the hat.

"The darkness of your past is strong," said the hat. "You are not an eleven year old boy on the inside. I daresay you lived through the rein of Gellert Grindelwald and Adolf Hitler."

I stared ahead, and then nodded slowly. "I still feel like a kid, though," I admitted in my head.

"That is good," said the hat. "You have many strong years ahead of you, Nico di Angelo,"

I thought about that. "Is any of this rapport helping you decide where to place me?" I asked impatiently.

I could have sworn the hat chuckled. "You are tricky, Nico, very tricky."

"I expected that," I muttered.

The hat went over the houses' qualities and tried to list famous people from each one.

"How is this helping?" I asked again.

"You are tricky," the hat repeated. "You are not a hatstall in the traditional sense, Mr. di Angelo. You possess the qualities of each house in very minimal amounts. You don't like to be seen in public, and you find ways to sneak around. That could put you in Slytherin. You are intelligent, but you also struggle, meaning Ravenclaw would not be the best placement for you. You care about people more than you want to let on, but you care deeply. That could point you to either Hufflepuff or Slytherin. And of course, the things you have faced, and will face… demigods are sometimes tricky, but you, Nico, are really something else."

"What I have faced and _will_ face?" I asked in shock. "Are you talking about the war?"

"There are many wars in your past, and even more in your future," the hat confirmed thoughtfully. "You raise good questions, Nico, and I think you possess a readiness to defend."

I sighed impatiently. "Yeah, but what does all that mean?"

The hat was silent for a moment. "Where do you see yourself excelling, Son of Darkness?"

_Son of Darkness_? That was an interesting term. I thought back to what Clara and Renee had said at Percy's birthday. Here, I didn't have to be the son of Hades. Here, I could be whoever I wanted to.

"I think I could gain the most from Gryffindor house," I said honestly.

The hat considered me for a moment. "Then so be it, and good luck, Son of Darkness," it said. The hat opened its mouth, and there was a collective shiver of anticipation throughout the hall.

"GRYFFINDOR!" the hat yelled.

The entire hall let out a breath of relief as the applause started. I took off the hat, placed it carefully on the chair, and smiled at the other students. As I made my way to the red-clad table, I felt eyes on me from every direction. Clara waved again as I passed the Hufflepuff table. "Congratulations," she said excitedly.

Renee grinned at me from the Slytherin table, and Draco did as well, but I could tell he looked a little disappointed.

After what seemed like an eternity, I sat down between Hermione and the ghost I had seen earlier. The ghost raised his eyebrows but didn't say anything. I wondered if he could sense anything about me. I'd have to get to know him later.

"Wow," Hermione said. "I thought the hat took a long time with me. I wasn't a traditional hatstall, though."

"Same here," said Clara's friend Neville in a small voice.

"_Technically_," I said, "the hat said I wasn't a 'traditional' one either. It said I had the qualities of all the houses, but in minimal amounts. In the end it let me choose."

"Why did you choose Gryffindor?" Hermione asked eagerly.

I shrugged. "I'm brave because I've had to be," I said, glancing around.

McGonagall crawled slowly through the list, and I tuned out, but my head jerked up as I heard a familiar name.

"Levesque, Hazel," McGonagall called.

Unlike me, the hat didn't shudder, but it seemed to pass through my new friend's head, wavering slightly before it rested. I glanced around, but nobody else seemed to notice, except maybe the ghost sitting next to me. I tried to meet Clara's or Renee's eye to ask if they saw it, but both of them had gone back to their conversations at their tables.

The hat took a few minutes before deciding firmly on Gryffindor for Hazel. I clapped and cheered with the rest of my table as Hazel came over. She sat across from me, and the ghost stared at her intently. Natalie McDonald came over a few people later. She was beaming as she sat down between Hazel and the small boy I'd seen earlier.

"I'm glad I already have friends here," she said shyly. "It would be hard to meet new people."

I smiled to myself. There was that word again. _Friends_. My mind wandered to everyone who'd shown me kindness in the last two weeks.

The other boy introduced himself. "I'm Dennis," he said. "I didn't see you three on the boats."

I shook my head. "Professor McGonagall had something she needed to talk to us about, so she had us take the carriages." I said quickly, hoping Dennis wouldn't pry.

"Ah," said Dennis. "Well, _I_ fell in the lake. Then I felt this tentacle thing grab me and threw me back into the boat." He laughed loudly, and his smile was infectious, even for me.

"You must have been picked up by the giant squid!" the third year who I had noticed earlier said excitedly. At a closer look, he appeared to be Dennis's brother. "I'm Colin." He grinned, and I noticed Harry trying not to roll his eyes.

I thought about what I'd been trying to do at the Burrow. Maybe here, surrounded by all this magic, it would be easier. I'd need to be careful, though.

I looked at the ghost to my right, and he nodded at me in what looked like a subtle bow. "Nico di Angelo," he said slowly. "A pleasure."

A shiver ran down my spine. I thought about what I sensed in Harry, Hazel, and Renee. My mind wandered to Percy. I still needed a way to get him to bathe in the Styx. But my father…

I hoped I could trust the ghosts not to talk. They probably knew everything about this castle. I'd just need to find a way.

I glanced over at the Slytherin table. Maybe Draco could help too. He was the only one, though. I couldn't risk getting the girls involved, not at this stage. And it was clear something was bothering Harry and Renee, something they hadn't addressed yet… something connected to that sense of deadness inside them.

I tried not to think about any of this. Renee and Clara wanted me to have fun, for once, and I had to admit I kind of wanted to as well. But if I didn't figure this out, the mortal, demigod, and wizard worlds would be in danger. Percy and Clara were my friends, and so were Tony Bradley and Draco Malfoy. Renee, Annabeth Rachel, Hazel, Natalie, and even Dennis were people I could see myself taking a liking to as well. I hadn't felt this way about anyone since Bianca, and it was weird.

I chewed my food without thinking about what I was eating. I needed to find an entrance, and keep it secret. I'd do anything if it meant saving my three worlds.

* * *

**_A/N: Well, it took forever for me to write this, and even longer for me to actually bother with the author note and post the chapter. I had to fine tune everything and decide who this chapter would actually focus on._**

**_I hope you like what I did with Nico's sorting. As hard as he was for the sorting hat to place, he was even harder for me. I circled between a few options for months. Never Ravenclaw, but I kept going back and forth between the other three. I've read a lot of fics that put him in Slytherin or Gryffindor, but I thought Hufflepuff would be interesting too since he is shown to care deeply about Bianca and later Hazel, as well as Percy, and the way he takes care of Mrs. O'Leary and Bob when Percy can't. But eventually I decided on Gryffindor, partly because I wanted him to bond with Hazel and Natalie._**

**_Most of the chapters won't include this much of his POV without interruption, but he'll still be a semi-main character with his own thoughts and ambitions. I really like canon Nico and wanted to explore his role in my fic._**

**_Anyway, I hope you liked the chapter. Please review, I really appreciate it._**

**_~Celia_**


	9. Predictions and Ferrets

**Renee POV**

Two years ago, I first found myself at this table. I was scared and alone, and Draco Malfoy made fun of me for clapping for Ginny, a "blood traitor," as she was sorted into Gryffindor.

Today Draco sat in the same position and applauded a boy who, as far as anyone beyond us, Clara, Harry Hermione, Neville, and the Weasleys knew, could have been Muggle-born as _he_ was sorted into Draco's rival house.

I wasn't the only one who noticed. Although it had taken minimal charmspeak to convince my friends there was nothing going on between Draco and me or Harry and me, Gill still followed my gaze as I glanced over at the blonde.

"Huh," he said, staring at Draco. "I guess he has changed, a little. I'm sorry for jumping to conclusions, Renee."

I thanked Gill for his apology. I had spent most of the sorting until Nico telling them about the Quidditch World Cup and how Draco, Clara, and I had snuck off to go find the players. It was such a good story, even I almost believed it.

The desserts were better than I remembered them, and they even served chocolate gateau. Everyone needs a little chocolate. Over at the Gryffindor table, even Nico looked content. Hermione, however, grew angry at something her house ghost said, and I heard her fork clang from three tables away as she threw it down.

After the puddings had been magically cleared away, Dumbledore rose to his feet. He went over some information about the banned items list and some other rules, and then cleared his throat.

"It is my painful duty to inform you that the Inter-House Quidditch Cup will not take place this year."

There were gasps throughout the hall. I locked eyes with Draco for a second and then glanced over at the Gryffindor table. Harry, Fred, and George looked incredulous.

Dumbledore put up his hand for silence. "This is due to an event that will be starting in October and continuing through the school year, taking up much of the teachers' time and energy - but I am sure you will all enjoy it immensely. I have great pleasure in announcing that this year at Hogwarts-"

Before Dumbledore could finish, he was interrupted by a deafening boom of thunder, and then the doors of the Great Hall were flung open.

A scarred, grizzly looking man stood in the doorway. He moved with a cane, and his eyes were like something from a mad scientist movie. One of them was small, dark, and beady, but the other one was large, round as a coin, and a vivid, electric blue. The blue eye moved independently of the normal one, scanning the room and rolling in every direction. Then it rolled over completely, and he faced the room with an empty socket.

I stood as if I'd gotten an electric shock, and I noticed Nico and Clara on their feet as well. The gods were always doing things like this, showing up in broken mortal forms if there were demigods around, and part of our training was to be ready for them.

Surprisingly, though, the man made his way to Dumbledore instead of any of us or Sprout. He made an odd clunking noise as he walked.

The stranger held out a hand that was just as scarred as his face. He and Dumbledore exchanged a few words in low undertones, and then he sat down, speared a sausage with his fork, and began to eat. His blue eye still darted around the room even as the rest of him focused on his food.

Dumbledore smiled. "Allow me to introduce our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Moody."

Chatter broke out across the room. "He's a famous retired auror," Tomasz explained, noticing my perplexed look. "Like, really famous. Put a ton of Death Eaters in Azkaban. Never killed when he didn't have to, though. Very good man, in my family's opinion." He frowned. "Well, most of them, anyway."

Tomasz didn't know I knew about Nolan's parents, I realized. I'd keep that knowledge to myself for a while longer. I know what it's like to have family I'd rather keep under wraps.

I watched as Moody ignored the glass of pumpkin juice in front of him, pulled out a personal hip flask, and took a deep swig. As he did, his cloak shifted to reveal a wooden leg ending in a clawed foot. It was exactly the kind of gimmick a disguised god would pull.

I still wasn't completely sure he was really an ex-auror. Clara seemed to have relaxed a bit, but Nico was still staring at Moody uncomfortably too.

Dumbledore cleared his throat. "As I was saying," he continued, smiling at the sea of students before him who were all gazing transfixed at Mad-Eye Moody, "we are to have the honor of hosting a very exciting event over the coming months, an event that has not been held in over a century. It is my very great pleasure to inform you that the Triwizard Tournament will be taking place at Hogwarts this year."

"You're JOKING!" Fred Weasley said loudly. His voice carried across the whole hall, easing the tension since Moody walked in. I even saw Nico relax, and I did as well.

"I am not joking, Mr. Weasley, although I did hear an excellent one over the summer about a hag, a troll, and a leprechaun who all go into a bar…"

Professor McGonagall cleared her throat sternly.

"Er - but maybe this is not the time… no… where was I… oh yes, the Triwizard Tournament."

Dumbledore went on to explain that the Triwizard Tournament was a competition between the three European wizarding schools, but had been discontinued due to the death toll. There were murmurs throughout the hall at the words "death toll."

Dumbledore brushed off people's concerns, but I sought out Clara and Nico's eyes. Something like this seemed like the perfect opportunity for monsters and gods, or even unscrupulous wizards to do something. He explained that the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang would arrive around Halloween.

Clara relaxed a bit as Dumbledore explained that there was an impartial judge that would enforce an age limit, but something still had me on edge. Fred and George swore loudly at this proclamation.

I let my mind wander as Dumbledore finished up. There was an air of excitement throughout the Hall as people started to make their way back to their dorms. Gill, Sandra, and Tomasz started talking excitedly about the tournament, hoping older Slytherins like Stacy Ballias and Cassius Warrington would try for it. All around us, people seemed to be having similar conversations, and I passed some people even speculating how they would trick the age barrier, but I was too exhausted to think about any of it. This year, I would have to remain alert. There was so much that could go wrong with this Triwizard Tournament.

* * *

**Clara POV**

That night, I couldn't sleep. This month, I had the bottom bunk, but it wasn't Rebecca's light snoring above me or Kat's soft moaning beside me that was keeping me awake.

I kept replaying this afternoon's incident in my mind. From the moment Hermione, Renee, and I had stood up to defend Natalie against Kaylee, Ariana, and Morgana, nothing had gone as I had expected it to. I wished more of my core group of friends were in Hufflepuff, because they were the only ones I wanted to discuss today's events with.

My mind wandered to all those who had helped us out in the incident. Mildred Jones and Norwich, and Stacy Ballias, Davis Yates, Monica Lewis, and the Johnson girl from Gryffindor, who I thought may have been related to the Gryffindor Quidditch player with the same last name. And, of course, Draco. My brother. He'd saved Renee's life, and then he turned around and saved Ron's, too. He defended me before I'd even had a chance to process that Norwich and Mildred may have been accusing me.

I shut my eyes and tried to do an alphabet of animals, a technique that usually helped me sleep, but sleep wouldn't come.

Around two in the morning, I was still having no luck. I crossed the room and took a spare quill from the shared desk.

_Dear Ms. Mildred Ellen Jones,_ I wrote. _I am writing to thank you for your help today…_

Around four in the morning, I had completed three letters to Mildred, Norwich, and Stacy. I still had more to write, but I felt my eyelids getting heavy. My pen dragged across the last page as I signed my name, unable to keep my eyes open.

* * *

"You look awful. Did you get _any_ sleep last night?" Lucy demanded the next morning when I saw her in the bathroom.

I shrugged. "I never sleep well on the first night back in a new place," I muttered. Most of the other students hadn't heard about the incident on the train, and I didn't want to be the one to tell them. The Hogwarts rumor mill would find out soon enough.

Renee and Sandra were waiting for me outside the Great Hall, laughing loudly about something. Renee grinned and gave me a huge hug when she saw me. "Sandra was just telling me about her cruise in the Mediterranean this summer," Renee said. She studied my face. "Man, you look awful. Everything okay?"

"Lucy Mason said the same thing. I didn't sleep too well last night, actually."

"Sorry," Sandra said. "First night in a new place, right? Or even a less familiar place?"

I glanced at the blonde girl. "You get that too?"

Sandra nodded, smiling. "Stacy and Sophia always said it was weird. But then again, Stacy needs at least a week to get used to somewhere, and Sophia can sleep anywhere, so I guess one night is weird for some."

"Our brothers and I always said Clara was weird about this," Renee laughed.

Last year, Sandra and I had had our first real conversation without Renee on the train before Christmas. She was actually pretty fun to talk to. Now, I wondered if we had more in common than either of us thought. Renee was close with both of us after all.

"Come on," Renee said excitedly. "Breakfast is always great on the first day!"

She pulled me over to the Slytherin table. I stared. Our first year, I'd made her sit at the Slytherin table on the first day because I didn't understand how bad it would really be for her. Last year, I had begged her and her friends to sit with me at the Hufflepuff table after an incident with Kaylee, Morgana, and Ariana. And now Renee not only wanted to be there, but wanted _me_ there as well?

I shrugged and sat between Renee and Daphne Greengrass from Care of Magical Creatures.

Gill threw himself down across from Renee, and even though it looked like they made up last night, I could still see that Gill wasn't really planning on giving her her space today.

I glanced up as Draco sat in a chair next to Daphne. She smiled at him, but it was strained. But Renee was right. He _was_ making an effort to distance himself from bad influences, even if it was hard. Further down the table, Pansy Parkinson scowled at him, and I could tell he was trying hard to ignore her.

A few minutes later, Kaylee slid into the seat across from Pansy with Morgana and Ariana on either side. I was disappointed to see that Morgana's arms looked fully healed. But at least Renee hadn't had to spend the night with them, as they were in overnight detention with Snape for the next few weeks. Beside me, Renee tensed.

"So last night," I said in a low voice, "I couldn't sleep, so I wrote a few letters. I wrote to Mildred and Norwich, and to Stacy. I still need to do Davis and Monica and that Johnson girl, so I'll need to ask Harry for her first name."

Renee brightened. "That's a great idea! I'll send them all letters as well. And maybe we can check if the golden trio want to do some as well."

"The golden trio?"

"Haven't you heard people refer to Harry, Ron, and Hermione as that? They've been at the center of all the school problems since their first year."

I laughed. "It's fitting."

* * *

Our first class was Divination. We ascended the ladder that led to the heavily perfumed, steamy room beyond the trapdoor.

They had split up electives more evenly this year, not based on houses but on the numbers of students who wanted to take them. This meant every third year from all the houses were together, instead of just one or two houses. For Divination, though, this wasn't much of an issue, since not many people wanted to take it, and no third years in Divination were also taking Arithmancy. Luna was the only Ravenclaw, and there were so few Gryffindors taking it this year, I barely even saw anyone I recognized from that house either. I only noticed Nolan, Rachel, Colin, and a girl of African descent who I didn't know.

There were fewer Slytherins in this class too. Tomasz and Gill had decided on Muggle Studies as their third elective, after Tomasz had dragged his best friend into taking Arithmancy with him. Their other class was Care of Magical Creatures, as the only three third year Slytherins to take it this year. We would once again be taking that class and Defense with the fourth year Gryffindors. A few of the Slytherin boys sat on the outskirts. I made it a point not to talk to Slytherin boys from my year who weren't Gill and Tomasz. They were all clearly into Ariana, Morgana, and Kaylee, and I suspected many of their families were pure blood elitists.

Renee was the only one present who had been in this classroom before. Sandra, Luna, and I hacked from the perfume as we emerged from the trapdoor, but Renee was more used to it from the Aphrodite cabin. The heat had me sweating in seconds, and I groaned as we sat down on the plush armchairs and beanbags that surrounded the tables.

"Even you?" Renee whispered to me, making sure that Sandra didn't hear.

I nodded uncomfortably and patted the seat next to me as other Hufflepuffs entered the room.

We exchanged greetings with the other Hufflepuffs. Franklin and some of the boys sat closer to the few Gryffindors in the class, which made sense, because Franklin and Nolan were close.

I took in my surroundings. Harry and Ron had warned us that Professor Trelawney liked to make an entrance on the first day. Warily, I eyed the crystal balls and teacups lining the shelves around the room. I had more reason than any of them to form judgement about the Divination professor.

There was a puff of perfumed mist, and the whole class started coughing again as a wiry woman with large glasses magnifying her eyes appeared from a secret door. "Welcome," she said. "How nice to see you in the physical world at last."

A few people laughed nervously, and she began to take attendance.

"Why does she need to do that, if she _obviously_ knows who we all are?" Rachel whispered loudly, rolling her eyes. She seemed like someone who only took this class to get out of doing work. The African girl quickly shushed her, and I was grateful. I didn't know yet if I trusted Trelawney, but I knew to take divination in and of itself seriously.

She called Rebecca, Nolan, and Sandra's names, and then her eyes rested on me. "Bradley, Clarissa?"

I nodded.

"I have seen in the stars that we will talk after class."

A few people raised their eyebrows, and Renee squeezed my hand as Trelawney moved on to Emma Cardwell.

"What's that about?" she whispered.

I shrugged. Could Professor Trelawney know about my father? And if so, did that mean she was legit?

After she had called on everyone, she gave some stuffy speech about how this would be a difficult class if one didn't possess "the sight." Renee winked at me and I had to keep from laughing.

We partnered up, and I ended up with Luna as Renee and Sandra were working together across from us. Callie Preston from Hufflepuff looked disappointed that I didn't choose her until a Hufflepuff boy called Jasper Dylan called her over, and she brightened a bit.

"Callie _likes_ Jasper," Lucy Mason whispered loudly, and Callie turned red.

"Well, Lucy likes-" Renee snapped back, but I looked sharply at her. Even if her Aphrodite talents allowed her to know who was into who, she shouldn't reveal that to a whole class right now.

Emma raised her eyebrows at Lucy and then shook her head as they sat down across from Kat and Rebecca. I was glad I wasn't wrapped up in their drama, even if I was in the same house as them. Petty relationship drama seemed a lot more like a Gryffindor or Slytherin thing, honestly. Not that I suspected any of my Gryffindor or Slytherin friends would be involved in that, but it just wasn't a Hufflepuff thing.

"We will be covering basic methods of Divination this year," Professor Trelawney explained. I smiled to myself. These "basic methods" likely didn't include passing out and getting a message from the Greek god of prophecy. She mentioned tea leaves, palmistry, fire omens, and crystal balls. She then turned to Nolan.

"Beware a tall man in a mask."

Nolan exchanged a worried glance with Franklin, and I suspected he was thinking of his father.

"Unfortunately, in November, the school will give itself to flames, and in February one member of this class will find him or herself helpless," Trelawney continued, and many people gasped. "Miss Samson, is your grandfather well?"

"I think so," Rachel muttered, looking around sharply.

"I wouldn't be so sure," the professor replied, then continued with her grand speech. "In June, I regret to say that a member of this class will be in grave danger."

She looked around wildly, as if trying to pinpoint which student it would be. Her gaze landed on Renee, and she smiled. "You, dear, will you pass me that silver teapot behind you?"

Renee glanced over her shoulder at the teapot the professor was describing, and then passed it to her.

"Thank you, dear," she said. "Beware betrayal. You know the signs."

Renee glanced at me, and I just shrugged.

Professor Trelawney then explained the lesson. She would pour the tea, and we would drink to the bottom and observe the patterns our leaves made using our _Unfogging the Future_ books.

Luna looked at mine first. "Oh," she said arily. "That's interesting. You have a mistletoe plant. Probably means you have an infestation of Nargles in your future."

"Please just stick to the book," Sandra hissed beside us as Professor Trelawney passed by our table. I could tell she was trying not to laugh.

"I don't know," Renee murmured. "Creative interpretation can be useful… Sandra, you've got this little thing that looks like a thumbtack… looks like that means you're going to get a minor injury… or maybe when you turn it this way it's a microphone…"

I glanced in Luna's cup. Her tea leaves formed clear pictures to me, mostly of animals and sunshine. Somehow, they were in vibrant color in my mind. I didn't say any of this, though. I didn't want to draw attention to my natural Divination abilities.

"You've got a little mirror," I pointed out in Luna's cup. I flipped through the pages. "Huh. That's odd. This says a mirror is a symbol of both confidence and insecurity…"

Next to me, Renee snorts into her cup. "Yeah, right," she mutters.

"Place yourself in the beyond," Professor Trelawney encourages us. Some people laugh, but others are deadly serious. She steps up behind Renee, and both Slytherin girls flinch a little bit.

"My dear," she exclaimed, peering into Sandra's cup. "I see music and light in your future!"

"Music and _light_!" Rachel scoffed from the back of the room. "Well, _that's_ specific!"

Her partner, the African girl, loudly shushed her. I was gaining more and more respect for her. I'd have to ask Ginny her name later.

Something made Professor Trelawney's gaze shift to Renee's and my cups. She shivered as she inspected mine, then Renee's, then mine again. She looked around to see if everyone was paying attention, and then sighed dramatically.

"Twin moons," she gasped, her eyes shifting between the cups. "Great loss links the two of you and looms in your future!"

She rotated them in opposite directions and sighed again. "Twin leaves parting- you will be torn from your loyalties many times in life."

Renee stiffened and reached for my hand. I squeezed hers. Maybe this class would prove useful in more ways than one.

"Twin hearts," the professor said, her eyes growing even wider. "With opposite breaks. I'm not sure what that means. I'll need to see the fourth side before…"

She rotated the cups a final time, and her hand went to her heart. "Renee Sanderson, you have the sun, and Clarissa Bradley, you've got the dove. There's a part of each of you in the other, more than any two wizards I've ever come across. The coming years will be a test of everything you hold dear- especially each other. Be prepared."

The candles throughout the room flickered, and Renee squeezed my hand tightly. Around us, people were exchanging awkward glances, as if they'd just witnessed something private, a ritual of sorts.

A bell rang from somewhere far away, and Professor Trelawney glanced around the room. "Your homework is to write two pages on an interpretation you'd like to know more about, whether it be your own or your partner's. Class dismissed."

She locked eyes with me, and Renee let go of my hand to gather up her books. "Do you want me to wait?" she whispered nervously.

"No, it's okay." Renee was obviously a little shaken from the class, and the fresh air would do her some good. Luckily, we had Care of Magical Creatures next. "Go meet up with Hermione and the others, and let Hagrid know I'll be a few minutes late."

Renee nodded. "Good luck."

I smiled. "I'll see you in a few minutes."

I turn to the professor as Renee descends the ladder. "What did you want to talk to me about?"

* * *

**Renee POV**

"That's a load of BS!" I yell at the Slytherin table at lunch.

Clara glances around nervously. "Please. Keep your voice down."

I go over what she said again. "So she called you 'sister…' because she was adopted by your father's Roman form… so she's not really a demigod but she was given powers by your father… but others in her family are seers? That _just_ doesn't make sense, Clara."

She shrugged. "Well, Wren, I was thinking," she stared off into space.

"Yes?"

"For our history of magic project, I was wondering if you would be okay with studying the history and art of divination."

My face fell. "I kind of wanted to study the Triwizard Tournament."

Clara smiled brightly. "I figured. Do you want to do separate projects this year? We can ask McGonagall and Sprout if we can make them yearlong, so that we can put our full effort into them. I wrote down all of Professor Trelawney's predictions about the year, and I want to see where they go."

"Not a bad idea. But Professor McGonagall doesn't believe in divination as a magical subject, everyone knows that. She might not approve."

"I can just remind her of my father." Clara winked. "Plus, you'll be there to charmspeak her if she doesn't approve."

"Oh, all right, if you insist."

* * *

Clara squeezed my hand as we made our way down the stairs for our next class.

"Are you sure you'll be okay?" she asked again.

"After Hagrid's skrewts this morning I can handle anything," I laughed, trying to divert attention from what she was really asking. The skrewts had been these large, gray cockroach-like things with suckers on their bellies and ends that breathed fire. Draco and Lavender had both complained loudly about them, and Hermione had tried to defend Hagrid, but none of us actually believed they were at all useful for anything. In all honestly, they were disgusting.

But now, we were going to our first class away from each other, and for me, that meant double potions. It would be bad enough having to face Snape in the dark, cold dungeon, and that was before you added in the fact that it would be the first time I faced Ariana, Morgana, and Kaylee since the incident on the train, and the first time I'd faced them at all without Clara since last June.

I had told Sandra about what happened, and Ginny had demanded to know why her brother was in the hospital wing, so Hermione had told her as well. Clara walked me to the dungeons, she had charms next. Luckily, the entrance to the potions classroom was blocked by Sandra, Gill, Tomasz, Ginny, Rachel, Nolan, Colin, and the black girl who I'd seen earlier in Divination.

"She's safe with us," Sandra said firmly but reassuringly, taking my hand. Clara seemed to relax slightly as she made her way to Charms.

Sandra and I took a two-seater near the back, and my Slytherin and Gryffindor friends fanned out around us. Gill sat directly behind me and put a hand on my shoulder. "If Kaylee, Morgana, or Ariana try anything, I'll show them," he said, making a fist with his other hand.

"Oh, shut up," Tomasz said as Snape breezed past them into the room. Nolan and Colin were playing hangman, seemingly oblivious, and the black girl turned to me from her three-seater across the aisle with Ginny and Rachel.

"I'm Demelza," she said brightly. "I saw you in Divination this morning."

I smiled. "Renee," I said, offering her my hand. "Nice to meet you."

I thought I saw the tiniest of scowls on Gill's face, but I blinked and he looked fine again. I must have imagined it.

* * *

Luckily, Snape didn't do much other than dock points from the Gryffindors for arbitrary things, and my friends distracted me from Ariana, Kaylee, and Morgana. I was actually able to make a pretty good rendition of the Pepperup Potion we were supposed to be working on. Ginny's looked much better, though, but Snape pretended not to notice hers as he awarded me ten points for Slytherin. I almost said something, but Sandra stepped on my foot. "Don't," she hissed in my ear. "You'll just make it worse for her."

Overall, it was a pretty normal lesson. Clara was waiting for me outside the Potions classroom when we got out. Her face broke into a wide grin when she saw I was surrounded by friends and didn't look hurt. Together, we made our way up the staircase with the other first years, laughing and joking about our summers and the Quidditch World Cup. Only Colin and Demelza, being Muggle-Born, hadn't seen it.

As we reached the entrance hall, which was packed with people queueing for dinner, there was a commotion.

"Weasley! Hey, Weasley!" the voice was unmistakably Draco's.

Ron looked around. "What?" he snapped.

"Your dad's in the paper, Weasley!" Draco's voice echoed throughout the hall. "Listen to this!"

I groaned inwardly. Of course I couldn't have actually expected the Draco from last spring and over the summer to have been the same person at school.

"Further Mistakes at the Ministry of Magic," Draco read the headline. The article addressed Mr. Weasley as "Arnold Weasley" and brought up how he was charged for possession of a flying car, as well as hinting that he was covering up whatever had happened at Moody's the previous morning.

"And there's a picture, Weasley!" Draco said with glee.

I stepped up in the line, hoping Draco would notice me and stop. Clara saw what I was doing and grabbed my hand. "Together," she whispered. I nodded and we took a few steps forward.

"Of your parents outside their house," Draco continued, his voice rising. "If you can call it a house. Your mother could do with losing a bit of weight, couldn't she?" Around him, Slytherins laughed, and my eyes found Kaylee, Morgana, and Ariana in the crowd. As much as I wanted to stop Draco, I really didn't want to risk a confrontation with them right now.

Ron was shaking with fury, and Clara stepped up behind him. I knew she could control him with her sunbeams if things got bad. I was on my own now.

"Get stuffed, Malfoy," Harry called back. "Come on, Ron, let's go."

Draco smirked. He still hadn't noticed me yet. I moved closer. "Oh yeah, you were staying with them this summer, weren't you, Potter?" He sneered. "So tell me, is his mother really that porky, or is it just the picture?"

Ginny, Sandra, and Tomasz had pushed their way through the crowd as well.

"You know _your_ mother, Malfoy?" Harry retorted, and Clara gasped, loosening her hold on the sunbeam that was restraining Ron.

_Don't go there_, I pleaded in my mind with charmspeak, but Harry didn't seem to notice.

"That expression she's got," he continued, "like she's got dung under her nose. Does she always look that way, or was it just because you were with her?"

Draco went slightly pink, but so did Clara. "Harry," she muttered, "don't stoop to his level."

Harry glanced at her, and Draco took that moment to raise his wand to Harry while his back was turned.

There was a collective gasp, and then-

BANG!

Several people screamed, and I whipped out my wand as something came flying at Harry, but then there was another BANG!

"OH NO YOU DON'T, LADDIE!"

Harry spun around, as did many others. Mad-Eye Moody clunked into the middle of students, near Harry. His wand was out, and he was pointing it at a pure white ferret, which was shivering on the stone floor, exactly where Draco had been moments before.

"Professor!" Clara gasped, but Moody wasn't listening as he limped toward Harry.

"Did he get you?" he growled.

"No," Harry said, looking around. "Missed."

"LEAVE IT!" Moody shouted, and I followed his electric blue eye as it rolled into his head toward where Crabbe was picking up the ferret.

He limped toward Crabbe, Goyle, and the ferret, who squeaked and made a mad dash for the dungeons. Clara stared at me with fear frozen on her face. "Do something," she whispered shakily.

I understood what she wanted. "Professor Moody," I said with a touch of charmspeak.

The look he gave me rivaled one I'd seen on Professor McGonagall's face. "I don't take kindly to people who attack when their opponent's back is turned," he growled at me.

"Professor, please," I tried again as Moody started bouncing the ferret up and down with his wand.

I felt someone step up next to me, and I turned slightly and noticed Tomasz on my right. He was looking at his wand with intense concentration.

Moody performed a little trick with his wand that tossed Draco high in the air. Many people laughed, including Harry and Ron, but the shocked expression on Clara's face frightened me.

"Professor Moody," I tried again, but someone else's voice rang out louder.

"Professor Moody, what are you doing?" It was Professor McGonagall. Tomasz seemed to be waiting for this exact moment, because he figured out what to do with his wand at the sound of her voice. "_Migale ut transferendum hominum_," he said as the ferret hit the floor. It expanded back into Draco, sprawled out on the ground. He looked over toward where we were standing.

"Thanks," he said slowly to Tomasz.

Professor McGonagall was reprimanding Moody, but I turned my attention to my best friend. Clara was shaking with fury.

"Who does he think he is?" she gasped. "You can't just go around turning students to animals!"

I put my hand on her shoulder. "It's okay, Clara. He's fine now."

"Yeah, but what if Tomasz hadn't been there?" she snapped, sounding very unlike herself. "What if McGonagall hadn't shown up?"

Aside from the Slytherins, though, including me and my friends, Clara seemed to be the only one who didn't find this funny. Ron was grinning from ear to ear, and I heard him say, "don't talk to me. I want to fix this in my mind forever. Draco Malfoy, the amazing bouncing ferret."

Harry and Hermione laughed, but then Hermione caught sight of Clara's expression. She muttered something to Ron, and I caught the words, "what if it had been Ginny?"

"Oh, come off it," Ron said loudly. "You're ruining the best moment of my life."

Clara went pale and moved toward Ron. She looked fiery, and I knew she might let loose with her sunbeams at any moment.

I reached out my hand to her, pointedly ignoring Ron.

"Come on. Let's go find Nico and ask about his first day."

* * *

_**A/N: Well, this was a long awaited chapter that I didn't know exactly where to go with. At first I thought it would go one way, but I ended up being able to make it less of a filler. I still am not exactly sure where to go with Clara and Professor Trelawney, and their relationship is something I've been thinking about since I started writing this, but I'm still not sure what it's going to mean later on. Still, I enjoyed introducing her and writing a class scene away from the golden trio.**_

_**A note about Tomasz's spell: I looked up the word ferret in Latin on Google translate, so that's where I got "migale" from. I'm not sure why I want Tomasz to be this transfiguration genius, but I wanted to include the canon part where Professor McGonagall was yelling at a kid for turning his friend into a badger in the moments before Justin and Nick are petrified in CoS, but I also wanted that to be where Clara and Renee were coming from, because at that point it was the only class they had together. So I guess that stemmed into this.**_

_**Anyway, please review. I look forward to continuing on to the Triwizard Tournament.**_

_**~Celia**_


	10. Unforgettable, Unforgivable

_**A/N: **__**Standard disclaimer: All characters and setting belong to J.K. Rowling, except for my original characters Clara Bradley and Renee Sanderson. Nico di Angelo, Hazel Levesque, and Bianca di Angelo (mentioned) belong to Rick Riordan. I am making no profit from this story.**_

* * *

****Nico POV****

I watched the whole Draco fiasco nervously with some other Gryffindor first years. I didn't want to show emotion about the situation around other Gryffindors, but I didn't like what Professor Moody was doing to my new friend.

Natalie and Colin were talking and laughing like nothing had happened, but Hazel hung back.

"You okay?" she asked cautiously. "You were with him at Diagon Alley, weren't you?"

"He's friends with my cousins, Clara and Renee. But they're also good friends with Harry, Ron, and Hermione. It's a little confusing. They said he had a mean streak, but in the three times I'd met him I never saw it. Not until now."

Hazel studied me for a moment. "It's okay to feel that way about people, Nico. To see two sides of them."

She looked past me and waved. "Your cousins are coming over, Nico. Do you want me to leave so you can talk to them privately?"

"No, it's fine," I said. A moment later I realized I meant it. I didn't really know what "family" felt like, except for Bianca, but if Clara and Renee were "family," Hazel felt the same way as they did to me. Maybe I just wasn't used to being accepted so readily by people, but there was something about her acceptance that really did seem familial.

Hazel seemed to shimmer slightly in and out of focus as she sat down. I blinked.

* * *

**Clara POV**

"So how was your first day?" I asked, sliding into the seat across from Hazel.

Nico and Hazel, it turned out, were probably the first students to enjoy a History of Magic lesson in the entire timeline of the school. For Nico, I guess it made sense, with his affiliation with ghosts, but I wondered about Hazel. She seemed to shimmer, never quite staying in focus unless I was looking directly at her. Did she have something to do with ghosts too?

"The same can't be said for Potions, though," Nico said dejectedly. "He berated me specifically about names of various potions, and the Slytherins laughed and jeered when I couldn't correctly define Drought of Living Death."

A few seats away, Harry turned to us. "Couldn't help overhearing," he said, looking unsure about whether he should be talking to us. "I just wanted you to know, Snape did that to me on my first day of first year as well. It's not personal, he just hates Gryffindors. And you kind of look like how I imagine he did as a kid, you know?"

Next to him, Ron laughed, then caught my eye. "I'm sorry for laughing about Malfoy," he muttered, looking away from us and busying himself in his food.

I nodded absently. "I understand. Up until a year ago, I would have done the same," I said earnestly.

"He did help save my life, though," Ron said thoughtfully. "And yours, Renee. If he hadn't come…"

"I know," she snapped.

"Sorry," Ron muttered again.

"I just don't want to think about it," Renee said firmly

"Noted," Ron nodded.

We ate the rest of our dinner in comfortable silence. As we were getting up to go, an idea struck me. I had glanced over at the Slytherin table a few times during the meal and had noticed Renee doing the same. Draco hadn't reappeared.

"Can I come back to the Slytherin common room with you?"

Renee looked startled. "Are you sure?"

"Just for a few minutes. I want to talk to him."

"Oh, all right," Renee agreed. "Just be careful."

"I'll come too," Nico said. I glanced warily at Renee.

"Come on," Nico said. "He's my friend too."

"Nico, it's just…" Renee faltered. "Well, the Slytherin common room isn't a great place for Muggleborn first year Gryffindors."

Nico stared at us with a glare as piercing as death, and I had to remind myself who his father was.

"Fine." Renee shuddered and looked away.

* * *

Draco was sitting alone at the back of the common room, reading. He seemed to be avoiding people.

"Hey," Renee said quietly as we approached.

"What do you want?" he snapped without looking up. "Come to have a laugh at my expense too?"

I sat down next to him. "We wanted to check in on you, Draco."

He raised his head. "Oh," he said, sounding slightly warmer. "It's you."

"Have people been rude?" I asked cautiously as Renee sat down on my other side.

"You know Slytherins," Draco shot back. "And Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs, and Ravenclaws." He turned to glare at us. "Why didn't you _do_ something?"

"What?"

"I bet you loved that, didn't you? Let's all watch Draco Malfoy bounce up and down and make a fool of himself. His father opposed the aurors, so now the auror professor gets to do whatever he wants with him."

"Draco, we didn't-"

"Oh yeah, you _didn't_ do anything. I heard Weasley, the ungrateful git. _You're ruining the best day of my life_! A life he wouldn't even have, I might add, if I hadn't been there yesterday." He turned to Renee. "And _you_. I'd expect you'd take more pride in your house, Sanderson. But your little friend didn't even perform the countercurse until he was sure Professor McGonagall was safely there to award him house points. _He_ didn't care."

"What, Tomasz?" Renee gasped, taken aback. "He was messing with his wand, trying to figure out the spell. You just didn't see it writhing around on the floor and being tossed in the air."

"And yet," Draco said annoyedly, "he still didn't _do_ anything until the Transfiguration professor showed up. He was just showing off for her."

"Draco, please. Wren tried to charmspeak Moody but it didn't work!" Renee, Nico, and Draco glanced around the common room, and I realized I had raised my voice. "Sorry," I whispered hastily.

"Look," Draco muttered. "I don't know if that's true, and you'll just _charmspeak_ me to tell me that it is. If you're serious, tell me something Potter and the Weasel and Granger don't know."

I stared at him, then glanced at Renee. I didn't need a sunbeam connection to tell now wasn't a good time to reveal our summer. Nico, however, straightened up.

"I… I can tell you who my father is."

Draco's eyes widened, and he nodded.

"Nico, are you sure-" Renee started, but Nico cut her off.

"I trust him." He turned to Draco. "My father is Hades, Lord of the Dead," he said, his voice barely a whisper. "Back at camp, I was an outcast because the other gods shun him, and so their children shunned me. And Clara and Renee said we get to keep our private lives private here, that I could be whoever I wanted. And one person I want to be is your friend, Draco. I didn't like what you said to Harry and Ron, but I also didn't like what Professor Moody did to you."

He said it in such an intense way that the hustle and bustle of the common room faded away, and he was the only thing the three of us could focus on.

Draco smiled, one of his rare real ones. "Thank you," he whispered. "I'd like to be your friend too, Nico."

I could have sworn Nico looked embarrassed, but I blinked and he was fine. He simply yawned. "It's getting late, we should head back."

Renee nodded and told Draco she'd talk to him later, then walked us to the door.

As I stepped out of the portrait hole, I turned to Nico. "So, what did you think of the Slytherin common room?"

He didn't answer, and I turned around. I didn't see him, and I figured he must be blending into the shadows. I didn't blame him. His confession was likely very emotionally draining, and I respected him for it.

* * *

**Draco POV**

I turned back to my book, a story of the first Giant War told from a Durmstrang student's perspective. It was significantly more interesting than the way we learned about the Giant Wars in History of Magic. Reading historical fiction was the only way I got through that class.

"Hey, Draco, I wanted to ask you-"

I dropped my book with a loud thud as Nico materialized out of a dark corner. "I thought you left with Clara."

Nico gave me a small, embarrassed smile. "Sorry."

"No, it's okay, you just startled me is all. What do you want?" I didn't mean to sound rude, but I was still getting over the shock of a first year materializing next to me. "Please, sit down."

Nico glanced around the room, noticed Renee playing Wizard's chess with Astoria, and lowered his voice.

"I'm looking for an entrance to the underworld," he whispered. "Hades's kingdom. I have unfinished… stuff from over the summer." He mumbled this last part.

"Nico, with all due respect, don't you think Clara and Renee would be better at helping you with demigod stuff?"

The younger boy shifted uncomfortably. "I don't really want them to know," he confided in a whisper.

I followed his gaze back over to Renee, checking to make sure she was still immersed in her game. "What's going on?" I whispered.

Nico opened his mouth and then closed it. "I don't know if I can tell you," he said finally. "I think Clara needs to be the one…"

"She and Renee were going to tell me at the World Cup. You were there. They said something about a He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named god or something, right?"

"A… a titan." Nico looked around, unsure. "Look, Draco, it's not my place. I don't even know the full story. All I know is that I allowed the Labyrinth to be destroyed, so I can't find an easy entrance from here to there that goes through."

I glanced around. "I'm not sure if I understood anything you just said, Nico. But I do admire you for keeping your friends' secrets. That seems like a very Slytherin quality."

I scanned the room to make sure nobody was listening, then lowered my voice to less than a whisper to match Nico's. "Meet me tomorrow at lunch break at the staircase in the next to the History of Magic classroom. I can't guarantee it will work, but there's a secret room on the seventh floor that can turn into any kind of space you want. I found it by mistake my first year, and I'm pretty sure most students don't know about it. I met Clara and Renee in there once, but I doubt they realized what the room fully does."

"So you think it could give me a… a secret passageway or something?"

I nodded. "Again, I don't know. But it's worth a shot."

I waited until Renee was safely out of the room to show Nico out, knowing he might not know the way back to the Gryffindor tower yet.

"Thanks," he whispered once we were back in the entrance hall and he assured me he knew his way from there. "There's so much I don't know. I had to figure everything out for myself after Bianca died. It's nice to have someone older to show me the ropes."

* * *

Even as I lay in bed that night, I couldn't get those words out of my head. Hadn't I been alone and angry for most of my life as well? Until Renee came along, my story matched Nico's word for word.

It was only as I was close to sleep that I realized I didn't know who Bianca was, or why she died. I filed that away in my list of questions to ask Renee and Clara when we finally got a chance to talk about this.

* * *

**Renee POV**

Not surprisingly, Clara and I were the only students in our Defense Against the Dark Arts class who weren't overly thrilled or excited as we made our way to Professor Moody's classroom on Thursday Morning. None of them thought that what had happened to Draco was necessarily negative, although Hermione did understand why we were upset and nervous.

Clara reached for my hand as we walked into the room. I squeezed back, hard. "It's okay," I whispered.

She nodded but didn't say anything as we filed into the last open seats, a three-seater next to Neville and across from Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

A moment later we heard Moody's distinctive clunking as he made his way into the room, looking as strange as ever.

"You can put those away," Moody growled, observing our open copies of _The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self Protection_.

We returned our books to our bags. Most of the class looked excited, but Clara looked around warily. I knew what she was thinking. A practical lesson on her first day of the advanced class last year had landed her unconscious in the hospital wing for the better part of a day.

Moody called roll and went over what Remus had told him about our education last year. He confirmed that we had a good deal of experience with dark creatures, but then he paused, and I could have sworn his magical eye was moving between me and Harry as he said his next words.

"But you're behind - very behind - on dealing with curses. I'm here to bring you up to scratch on what wizards can do to each other. I've got one year to teach you how to deal with Dark-"

"What, you aren't staying?" Ron blurted out.

Moody's magical eye moved toward him, and Ron looked nervous, but then Moody smiled, making his face look even more grisly and twisted than usual.

Moody identified Ron as Arthur Weasley's son and thanked his father for helping him out of a tight spot a few days ago. I assumed that was what Mr. Diggory had called about on our first day of school.

He went on to explain why he would only be staying a single year, and then got back to his point. He explained that while the Ministry only wanted to teach students countercurses, he didn't think we could be prepared without knowing about the real thing. It sounded a lot like our training from Camp Half Blood, knowing about the worst so we could do our best to fight it. Clara relaxed a bit as she seemed to realize this as well.

Moody talked a little more about curses, and then posed a question to the class. "Do any of you know which curses are most heavily punished by wizarding law?"

Several hands rose tentatively into the air, and I thought about what Kaylee's crowd had tried to do to me. I was sure that was one of them, but I didn't offer an answer.

Professor Moody called on Ron, although his magical eye was focused on Lavender Brown, who had been showing Parvati Patil her completed star chart under her desk. Apparently Moody's eye could see through solid wood.

"Er," Ron said tentatively, "my dad told me about one… it's called the Imperius Curse, or something?"

"Ah yes," said Moody appreciatively. "Yes, your dad would know about that one. Gave the Ministry a lot of trouble a few years back. Mr. Weasley, will you be kind enough to open that drawer and hand me the jar of spiders?"

Ron shuddered, and Clara stood up quickly. "I'll do it, Professor. Ron has had some bad experiences with spiders."

Ron nodded at her appreciatively as Clara walked over to the cabinet, took the jar out, and deposited it on Moody's desk.

"Thank you. Take a point for Gryffindor."

"It's Huffelpuff, actually. I'm one of the two third years in this class, I'm sure Professor Dumbledore mentioned…"

She stopped when she noticed her classmates glaring at her.

"Thank you, Miss. Bradley," Moody said evenly. "In that case, take two points for Hufflepuff, one for your help and one for your honesty. And your classmates can keep their point as well."

Clara smiled before hurrying back to her seat. Moody took out one of the spiders. "_Engorgio_," he muttered, and the spider swelled to three times its size. Ron let out a distinct whimper.

Moody pointed his wand at the spider. "_Imperio_!"

The spider swung back and forth from the desk as if on a trapeze. It stretched out its legs and did a backflip, then began to do what was unmistakably a tap dance. Most of the class was laughing, but I frowned. This curse was Charmspeak gone wrong. I felt sick and stared out the window, missing Moody's explanation of the curse. I could always copy Clara's notes later, but at that point I was contemplating my talents.

I imagined all the horrible things one could do with the Imperius Curse or Charmspeak, and all the reasons _why_ they would do these things. History had already shown that people would do what leaders say, just look at Hitler and the Holocaust. If they had either of these tools available to them…"

Clara nudged me, and I realized Moody was moving on to the next curse. He asked if anyone knew it, and Hermione's hand shot up, but to everyone's surprise, so did Neville's.

He noticed people staring and started to lower his hand, but Clara touched his shoulder. "You've got this, Neville," she whispered.

Moody nodded encouragingly at him.

"There's one…" he said in a small voice. "The Cruciatus Curse." He looked at the ground.

Moody nodded. "Your name's Longbottom, is it?"

Neville nodded nervously, but Moody made no further comments. He enlarged the spider again, and this time Ron wasn't the only one who looked nervous. Neville was practically shaking. Clara moved her seat closer to him, alarmed.

Moody raised his wand and pointed it at the spider again. "_Crucio_!"

The spider began to writhe in pain, and Neville was full on shaking now. I glanced across at Harry's table, where Ron had moved his chair so far back he was practically in Seamus's arms behind him.

Moody did not remove his wand; on the contrary, the spider started to shake more violently. Clara stood up.

"Stop it!" she screamed. "Can't you see it's bothering him?"

Moody nodded, and with a quick twitch of his wand, he made the spider stop twitching.

"Pain," said Moody softly. "You don't need thumbscrews or knives to torture someone if you can perform the Cruciatius Curse… that one was popular once too."

Neville shuddered again, and Clara moved closer to him. His bravery inspired me to speak up, and when Moody asked for the final curse, I beat Hermione to the punch. Both of our hands shook as they went into the air, I noticed.

Moody nodded at me.

"I'm not sure of the exact curse," I said in a small voice. "It starts with _Avada_, and it's… it's the killing curse."

Several people looked around uneasily, and I shrunk back into my seat. Beside me, Clara looked uncomfortable, and she squeezed my hand under the desk.

"Ah," Moody said, another slight smile twisting his lopsided mouth. "Yes, the last and worst. _Avada Kedavra_. The Killing Curse."

There was a collective shudder as Moody said those words so ominously. I was also wondering why he had smiled slightly. Hadn't Tomasz said that in his career as an auror, Moody never killed if he could help it?

Moody raised his wand to the spider, and I shot up as if I had just been shocked by Zeus's worst lightning bolt. Before I could comprehend what I was doing, I had one foot out the door. It didn't matter, though. I wondered if students in the transfiguration classes down the hall heard him, because he said it with so much force that it could have even been heard from the Greenhouses.

"_Avada Kedavra!_"

* * *

**Clara POV**

Renee came back into the classroom only reluctantly. Moody tried to send Lavender Brown to the door to fetch her, but Renee had screamed at her. I knew she and Lavender had some unresolved issues, and so I excused myself as Lavender walked back into the classroom, close to tears.

"Wren," I said. "I promise you can vent later. But if McGonagall hears about this, she might decide you can't handle the class a year ahead of yours, and place you back with the third year Slytherins."

We both knew it wasn't true; McGonagall knew what happened on the train, and Sprout would vouch for her is anything like that were to happen. However, it seemed to do the trick, and Renee hesitantly took my hand and pulled herself up.

We spent the rest of the class taking notes, and I was acutely aware of Renee on my right and Neville on my left. If I hadn't seen enough of Moody's darker side when he turned Draco into a ferret, I was definitely seeing enough now.

It was a relief when the class was over. Many of the other Gryffindors were chatting excitedly as they made their way toward dinner, but Harry and Hermione were not among the jubilant either.

We were walking directly behind the trio, and Ron was chattering away excitedly to an unamused Harry and Hermione.

Hermione cut him off. "Hurry up," she said sternly.

"Not the bloody library again!" Ron protested.

"No," Hermione said curtly, pointing up a side passage. "Look. Neville."

I followed her gaze. I had been watching Neville closely in class, since I was sitting right next to him, but now he looked even worse. Renee was muttering under her breath, and Harry looked a little green as well as we turned toward Neville.

"Neville?" I said gently.

Neville looked around. "Oh, hello," he said, his voice much higher than usual. "Interesting lesson, wasn't it? I wonder what's for dinner. I'm… I'm starving, aren't you?"

Renee, Harry, and Ron exchanged a glance.

"Neville, are you all right?" Hermione asked.

"Oh yes, I'm fine," Neville gabbled in the same unnaturally high voice. "Very interesting dinner - I mean lesson - what's for eating."

"Neville," I said in a soft voice, "you can talk to us."

Neville opened his mouth, but then Moody came clunking down the hall. We fell silent, apprehensive, as he approached, but when he spoke it was in a much lower and gentler growl than we had previously heard from him.

"It's all right, sonny," he said to Neville. "Why don't you come up to my office… come on, we can have a cup of tea…"

Neville looked around at us, signaling that a cup of tea with Moody was the last thing he wanted to do right now. I glanced around at my friends. Renee was slowly shaking her head, but none of the others seemed to know how to react to Neville being like this.

"Go on," I encouraged him. "We'll save you a seat at dinner."

Neville looked at the ground, but reluctantly allowed himself to be led away by Moody.

* * *

Most people were still gossipping about the lesson at dinner, where we once again sat at the Gryffindor table, but Hermione wolfed down her food and hurried away to the library.

I looked around at the people who seemed to think Moody had put on a spectacular show. "He had no right to teach us that on the first day!" I hissed so only my friends would hear me. "It's good and well that he needed to teach us the curses this year, but couldn't it have waited a week or two?"

Ron shrugged, but Harry and Renee nodded vehemently.

Five minutes later, Hermione's vacant seat was taken by Neville.

"What did Moody want?" I asked kindly. Neville looked in slightly better spirits.

"Well, he gave me these books," Neville said slowly. "Apparently, Professor Sprout told him I'm very good at Herbology, and he thought I'd like these."

I smiled. That sounded just like something Professor Sprout would do, knowing that it would cheer him up when he needed it. But something was off about the way Neville was looking at the books.

"Is there a problem about the book?" I asked.

"Well, I know it's about aquatic plants, but the letters keep swimming off the page and rearranging themselves. See, look."

Ron took the book from him and stared at it for a second. "Looks fine to me."

I stared at the book as well. "Hey, Neville, I'm sorry if this is a kind of personal question, but -"

Neville flinched, startling me somewhat.

"Sorry," I said quickly, guessing he thought I was going to ask him about his reaction class. "I was just wondering if this happens with a lot of text, Neville."

Renee's eyes went wide as she realized what I was implying.

"I mean, yeah, sometimes, I guess," Neville mumbled. "But-"

"Neville, listen closely," Renee said, leaning in across the table to talk to him. "There's a condition called dyslexia, okay. It's a learning disability that twists written words in your brain. And a lot of, well, people like Clara and I have it, but it isn't _just_ us. It makes the lines and letters look funky. Clara and I both have it because of you-know-what; it helps us read Ancient Greek. Nico has it one of the worst cases I've ever seen."

"Does…" He looked around, making sure nobody but us could hear him. "Does Professor Sprout have it? I've noticed when doing extra tasks in the Greenhouses that she sometimes has trouble reading labels on plants, and sometimes she stumbles over words."

"When are you doing extra work in the Greenhouses?" I asked without thinking.

"On the weekends, usually. I started doing it when I was banned from Hogsmeade visits last year. It relaxes me in there, and Sprout welcomes the help. She has her seeds filed alphabetically, and sometimes she'll mix up bitterroot and berryroot, or things like that."

"She might," Renee said, glancing at me. "You'd have to ask her."

Neville looked up at the Staff table, where Sprout seemed to be smiling about something Flitwick had just said.

"You know," I said thoughtfully, "maybe we could help you out with your dyslexia, Neville. At our summer camp back in New York, we get a lot of techniques for working past our limitations. We can get together to read, talk, and work on strategies once every couple of weeks, if you want. It can be like some sort of dyslexia book club."

"Don't let Hermione hear you saying those words," Ron warned. "She'd adopt it as her new pet project. Although maybe it's better than her new fixation with House Elves."

"I'd like that," Neville said, ignoring Ron. "Do you guys want to start next week?"

"Sure. We can meet in the Hufflepuff hidden room. I'll see if Nico wants to work on it as well."

Renee and Neville agreed it was a great idea. Seeing Neville's renewed enthusiasm, I felt my cheeks getting the tiniest bit hot. The Gryffindor was kind of cute.

* * *

_**A/N: So I've been procrastinating this author note for a really long time and I honestly have no idea why. I'm not sure why I included all of the mains' POVs in this chapter but it seemed like it fit.**_

_**I'd love to know what you thought, especially about Nico and Draco, as I'm just working them into the story.**_

_**Next chapter will probably be Durmstrang and Beauxbatons, although I might end up including the Goblet of Fire scene as well.**_

_**Thank you to Ana (emeryses on ffn) for being the one I can vent to about my frustrations with this story and everything going on in the world.**_

_**I hope you all are safe and healthy.**_

_**~Celia**_


	11. Charmed Curse

_**A/N: **_

_**Six months at home during quarantine: writing? Never heard of it.**_

_**First week back at school: hey look it's chapter time! :)**_

_**Enjoy!**_

_**~Celia**_

* * *

**Renee POV**

We followed Harry, Ron, and Neville up to the Gryffindor tower. Harry and Ron had decided to get started on their Divination homework, and I didn't think it would be a bad idea if we did the same with them, so we could commiserate about Professor Trelawney and her ludicrous predictions.

Clara seemed to support the professor more than other students did, and it made me wonder about the way Trelawney examined our cups _together_ in the first lesson.

Harry and Ron were laughing over joke predictions that got more drastic by the minute, and Clara was recording them with one of Tony's recorder pens, which she had cast a charm on to mask the battery and allow it to run on magic. I was surprised at how serious she was about studying the history and theory of Divination, including copying down other people's nonsense predictions. I guess it made sense, considering her father and her powers, but she was focused with an intensity I'd rarely seen from her before.

I was watching Fred and George intently. Although I'd only been in the Gryffindor common room a few times, I knew the Weasley twins well enough to be surprised that they were whispering in a corner instead of being the center of attention.

I looked away before they caught me staring, but not before I noticed Harry was also watching them. He shook his head silently to signal to me that he didn't expect that either, and turned back to his work.

Around 9:30, Hermione burst excitedly through the portrait hole. "I've just finished!" she said brightly. "Oh good, you two are here as well." She nodded to me and Clara.

"I'm finished as well," Ron said proudly, showing her his completed star chart.

Hermione glanced at it. "Won't it be a little obvious that you're making this all up?" she asked, rolling her eyes. "And besides, you have yourself drowning twice."

I held back a laugh, but Clara was looking intently at Ron's paper, which Hermione had just passed her. She made a few notes in a notebook and handed it back to him.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Clara, I'm surprised at you," she said. "I didn't think you'd buy into Divination. You're a sensible girl."

"I don't know yet whether I buy Trelawney," Clara whispered, looking around to make sure nobody was listening. "But I kind of, you know. My _instincts_." She hastily changed the subject. "Anyway, what have you been up to?"

Hermione gave a long explanation about her new "pet project," as Ron had called it, S.P.E.W. or the Society for the Protection of Elfish Welfare. Her goals seemed interesting, but I didn't know if she had the right ideas about elf liberation. Still, I could definitely agree with fair wages and getting a House Elf on the council.

I tuned out until I noticed a soft tapping sound.

"Is that Hedwig?"

Harry's face lit up. "She'll have Sirius's answer! I was getting worried."

"What did you write to him about?" Hermione whispered, sounding concerned.

I had a feeling I knew what was up. My thoughts were confirmed when Harry said, "could we maybe talk about this somewhere more private?"

We all glanced at Clara. She looked around, alarmed. "I'm sure I could get the Hufflepuff hidden room for a while," she said. "I feel like I'm practically the only one who uses it anyway."

She walked to the portrait hole. "I'll IM you in ten."

I nodded, knowing what she meant. Ron looked confused, and Hermione whispered, "but technology doesn't work at Hogwarts, the magic interferes too much." Harry, on the other hand, seemed to understand.

A few minutes later, we made our way down to the Hufflepuff common room. Though I'd never been in Ravenclaw's common room, and had only visited Gryffindor's a few times, I was fairly certain Hufflepuff's was my favorite out of all of them. Sandra had commented on how cozy and welcoming it was when we'd had to spend the night here at the beginning of last year. Though the Slytherin common room had a calming, aquarium effect, the Hufflepuff one was the most comfortable and enjoyable for people from any house.

I loved the hidden room as well. My kind of issues, especially the fights with Kaylee, Ariana, and Morgana, had led me to seek sanctuary here more than enough times. I loved the sleeping bags and reclining chairs, and the puffy, pastel-colored cushions around the room.

I flopped down onto a fluffy sky blue body pillow the minute I arrived. It was good to be back.

"Okay," Hermione said seriously. "Why were you so anxious for this reply in particular? Renee and Clara saw him over the summer, and there was nothing to worry about."

"It's…" Harry started, but I cut him off.

"Clara, can you tell us what it's like when you share dreams with Percy? I just want to make sure-"

"Wait, Clara shares dreams with my brother?" Ron interjected.

"No, Ron," I said, rolling my eyes. "Percy Jackson from Camp Half Blood. Remember, you met him over Iris Message last year, when I was taken over winter break."

Ron shrugged. "If you say so."

Clara looked hurt. "Wait," she said. "You shared a dream with Harry? And you didn't tell me?"

"We were waiting until the right time," Harry said quickly. "We didn't want to startle you before the World Cup, and afterwards, well…"

He didn't need to finish his sentence. We were all too shaken up by the events of the World Cup, even now.

"We were going to tell you on the train, too," I said quickly. "But then there was the incident with Natalie, and afterwards, we couldn't say anything with her and Hazel there. And besides, Ron and Hermione were at the front of the train, so it would have been pointless to talk to just Clara."

I was grateful that nobody bothered to point out that Draco and Nico had been there too. Somehow, I felt like we should include Nico on this knowledge. As for Draco, my feelings about him were becoming more conflicted by the minute.

I focused back on my friends in the moment as Clara started talking about the dreams she shared over the summer with Percy. "I don't get it, though," she said, eyebrows raised. "Harry's not a demigod. Why…?" she sighed. "Well, tell us, Harry, Renee."

"I woke up with my scar hurting a few days ago," Harry said. "It was the day I got Ron's letter, actually, before you came and picked me up for the World Cup." He looked around nervously before continuing. "Well, the last time my scar hurt… that was before you guys came to the school, I guess, in our first year… it was because Volde-"

"Don't say it!" Ron hissed.

I rolled my eyes.

"It was because you-know-who was at the school."

"But you don't think…?" I started. "I mean, we were in different places, and-"

"Wren," Clara cautioned, cutting me off. "This isn't good. You should have told someone immediately, me or Sprout or Dumbledore…" she turned to Harry, who was reading over Sirius's letter. "I assume that's why you wrote to him?"

Harry's face had gone very white. "He's flying north!"

"_What_!" I reached for the letter. "After we talked in July, I thought he left!" I thought fondly about our conversation, but then my face fell as I remembered some parts.

"Harry," Hermione said in a stern voice, "Renee, what actually happened?"

Harry and I glanced at each other. "Voldemort," Harry said finally. "He was with Pettigrew, and they were planning to kill…"

I cut him off with a glance before he said, "us." "He was planning to kill someone else. He had already killed someone, recently, too."

I glanced at Harry. There was something I was missing, an important person in the dream, whose name I'd heard before… I stared ahead, missing Ron questioning Harry about the dream and his scar burning, at least until I happened to glance down at my neck.

"Hey," I said, remembering. "Do you guys see this S-shaped mark on my neck? That hurt after the dream too!"

Everyone gasped.

"It has to be a coincidence," Ron said, his voice shaking slightly. "I mean, You-Know-Who never touched you, not like he did to Harry. You'd know!"

Clara looked very worried. "You just mentioned that," she said quietly. "How did you… that scar or birthmark or whatever, I've never noticed it before. I mean, maybe you should check with Chiron or Sprout or someone from, you know, our world…" She glanced at Ron. "It probably _is_ just a coincidence, but I don't know, Wren, I really don't."

Strangely, my mind shifted to the dementors, and the skeletal hands that dragged my father to his death. Could the birthmark have something to do with that night? And was I only noticing it now because I'd learned more about my family from Sirius? Was the birthmark really an "S," or was that just a figment of my imagination? And if so, did it maybe stand for Sirius, or for Sanderson? So many questions ran through my mind.

"What did Sirius talk to you about over the summer?" Harry asked hopefully.

"He told me about Regulus." I glossed over the details about him, but then I glanced at Clara. She nodded, as if knowing what I was going to say.

"He told me Eros - you probably know him as Cupid, he's my, uh, my mother's son… my brother, I guess, although that feels weird to me - had kept me in the Lotus Casino as a baby, nobody really knew how long. Sirius thinks it was two months, but the way he described it it sounded more like two years. Apparently I was raised by Bianca, Nico's sister who died last year, but she was only twelve when she died. I think she and Nico spent a lot of time there up until recently. You don't age in the Lotus, it's like time stops-"

I glanced around at my friends at a sharp intake of breath from Ron. Hermione seemed to be the only one of the trio taking in what I was saying.

"Repeat all that in English?" Ron asked. "It's all Greek to me."

Everyone laughed, even though the joke was dumb. "Sorry," Clara said. "Let's start at the beginning."

* * *

"Wow," Hermione said when Clara and I, breathless, had explained everything that happened over the past three years. "But what I don't get is, why isn't this written in our history books? I mean, it all takes place in the magical world, right? How come we didn't know about this stuff? I know Greek mythology, of course, but you would think-"

I cut her off. "It's not all that surprising. Draco told me he found out about all these other magical worlds while he was researching what we were-"

Clara looked startled. "When did he tell you this, Wren? When, exactly did he find out about us?"

Ron, on the other hand was outraged. "You'd listen to _him_? How is he the expert on anything?" he burst out.

I ignored Clara's question, deciding that Ron's clear hatred of Draco was a reason to keep those days before the World Cup from our friends, at least for now. "He found out exactly the way a Slytherin would," I said appreciatively, although apprehensive of Ron's disgusted glower. "He researched behind our backs, and behind Narcissa's, even. He didn't tell me the full story, just that there are some communities that house other magic. I haven't the faintest idea where he even found half of that stuff. I have a feeling, except in cases like ours, the worlds are supposed to be separate."

"How do you know he was telling the truth, then?" Ron snapped.

Clara looked at him sadly. "He's my brother," she said quietly. "Why wouldn't he tell the truth, after everything?"

The others gave her a quizzical look, and she smiled sheepishly and quickly tried to cover up her mistake. "I mean, just after finding out he was my brother, and the way he helped us on the train, you know?"

I squeezed her hand. She blinked, then nodded.

"Besides," I continued before the tension could escalate, "we've been to a third magical realm, completely by accident." I turned back to Clara before the others questioned me. "Remember Storybrooke, on our first quest? The man with glowing eyes and the port that just seemed wrong somehow?"

"How do you know that was one? I thought it was just some god or monster."

"Draco mentioned it at the World Cup too."

"Yes, but _when_? When… _oh_! You didn't get in using Charmspeak? I knew something was up. What did you do, Wren?"

"Nothing, I swear. He used a Ministry pass to get me in, said his family could because they were the Minister's personal guests. I swear on the Styx this was not in my plans!"

It took a second for thunder to rumble, as if the gods were considering my sincerity. They seemed to decide I was telling the truth, and I let out a sigh of relief.

The Gryffindors left a few minutes later, but Clara asked if I wanted to stay over, and I couldn't refuse, not when I was already snuggled up in the hidden room beanbag. Clara ran upstairs and grabbed two Camp Half Blood shirts for us, and I was surprised that one fit me perfectly, as Clara was both shorter and a little heavier than I was.

"Is this mine?" I whispered.

Clara shrugged. "Honestly? Most likely."

We fell asleep giggling and talking, just like at home. Just as I was dozing off, a thought struck me.

"What did you plan to do about Dede?"

Clara smiled. "Oh, I'd almost forgotten. Her songs have become almost a part of life now, easy enough to ignore. Kat and Rebecca feel the same way. But we should probably go to Dumbledore this weekend.

I agreed readily.

* * *

"You should have checked it with me first," I whispered furiously on our way to Care of Magical Creatures. "He's _my_ uncle."

"Yes, but he's flying back because _I_ sent the letter, not you, Renee," Harry argued.

"We both know you didn't make that up about your scar," I argued. "We _both_ had the dream."

"I didn't tell him about you. He doesn't know."

"That just makes it worse."

Hermione and Clara seemed to agree with me, but Ron was urging us not to push it.

"Seriously," I continued. "We offered him protection at Camp Half Blood, but he declined. I'm starting to think that might be the only way-"

"Not _now_," Clara hissed. "We offered him protection there _before_ we saw Luke's new form. The camp is having enough trouble protecting themselves, let alone a foreign fugitive!"

"Styx," I muttered under my breath. "I forgot. So if he's flying north, then at least he'll be closer, right? And he avoided the Dementors for a year, what's another one? He's a _Marauder_, Harry! He's _Padfoot_!"

"Well," Harry said, sounding unsure, "the letter's already been sent. And with the Triwizard Tournament, wouldn't security be heightened?"

Hermione shushed us loudly as we approached Hagrid's hut. We all winced a bit at the skrewts.

Lily Moon made her way over to us. "I don't think I can do it anymore," she gagged. "And if you think I'm bad, you should see Theo. He's going on and on about those things, retching and freaking out."

I rolled my eyes. "I'll see what I can do," I said. "I can be pretty persuasive."

Lily narrowed her eyes. "Even about things you don't believe in?" she whispered, glancing over at her friends. I followed her gaze to Daphne, Tracey, Theo, and Blaise. Draco was sitting apart from them, but also apart from Crabbe and Goyle. I let myself feel a twinge of pride before focusing on the matter at hand.

"Yeah, I guess. At least I'll try to convince him that he wants a good grade in this class."

"If you're sure. Come on then."

She started to walk away. Harry, Ron, and Hermione shook their heads, as if they suspected that there wasn't much I could do to convince Theo to give the skrewts a chance. Only Clara smiled encouragingly, and I wondered if she was thinking about how Dumbledore and Chiron wanted me to practice the Charmspeak in tricky situations. I gave her a thumbs up and followed Lily.

* * *

**Clara POV**

The skrewts were about as much excitement as we had for a while. Renee and I studied our separate history projects, sometimes sharing interesting tidbits with each other.

"Are you serious?" Renee burst out one night in the Hufflepuff hidden room. "They used to do this every _five years_, but it hasn't been done since the 1700s? And now we're dealing with both Voldemort and Kronos and they think it's _safe_?"

She had a point there. "The wizarding world isn't very effected by the latter," I said, hoping it was true. "And as for the former, we don't know where he is or if he's even alive. I trust Dumbledore and the Ministry on this."

Renee sighed. "I don't," she muttered as she gathered up her things. She was meeting Gill for a walk around the grounds. They'd been doing that a lot since the school year started, which Renee had explained was to show Gill she still loved him, and there was nothing going on between her and Draco, Harry, or anyone else.

I thought he was being too hard on her, and according to a whispered conversation with Sandra the next day during divination, she and Tomasz agreed.

"If he feels this way, he should just confront her himself," she muttered with a note of finality and a glance at Renee, who was attempting to read Luna's tea leaves.

"Why won't he?" I didn't actually know Gill that well.

"Tomasz says Gill thinks if Renee really loves him she'll make every effort to show _him_. A load of bull if you ask me." She glanced warily at the next table over, but Renee didn't seem to have heard us.

I bent down over Sandra's cup and tried to concentrate, but found I couldn't. That was ridiculous, considering my father controlled this realm. But I had a lot on my mind as well. This afternoon, in Defense Against the Dark Arts, Moody would be testing the Imperius curse on all of us.

At lunch, Renee was a mess. For once, we were sitting at our own house tables, but halfway through my meal, Sandra motioned me over.

"Can you shut her up? She's, well-" Sandra glanced at my best friend, who Gill was unsuccessfully attempting to calm down. Renee was near hysterics with her worrying, and only I knew the full reason.

I slid into Sandra's vacant seat and reached for Renee's hand. "Wren," I said firmly. "Come on."

I led her away to start walking toward the classroom, making sure I grabbed a few finger sandwiches from the table before we left.

Renee was oddly silent as we made our way to the classroom, and even as seats filled up around us, she stared straight ahead, as if in a trance.

Moody announced we would be going in alphabetical order by last name, and I felt Renee grow more tense beside me. I was worried as well; I would be second in the class, directly after Philippa Blake.

Philippa was utterly unable to resist as Moody directed her to tap dance back to her seat, but she gave a nervous laugh when he lifted the curse. I sucked in a breath.

Moody raised his wand. "_Imperio_."

It was nothing like the feeling I got when Renee used charmspeak on me. I felt light and free, only vaguely aware of my classmates.

Moody conjured a boa constrictor. "Put it around your neck."

Renee cried out as I reached out my hand to take it. Any other day, I would have been paralyzed with fear, and Renee was right to speak up, but I waved her off in my excitement. I draped the snake around me, and it started to squeeze. Moody then vanished it with a quick swish of his wand, and Renee stood up.

"No! You could have killed her!"

"He wouldn't have, though," said Lavender, but even her voice shook a little.

Neville and Renee exchanged a glance I doubt I was supposed to see. Moody waved past her concerns as he called Lavender up.

* * *

**Renee POV**

I had already been shaking _before_ Moody had thrown yet another snake in Clara's path, but afterwords I was a wreck. I squeezed her hand under the desk the entire time as most of my classmates failed to resist the ridiculous feats Moody asked them to perform. Even Hermione, with all her resolve and book smarts, failed to avoid doing a backflip.

Then it was Harry's turn, and I gulped. I was nervous for my friend, of course, but I was also terrified because I was to go right after him.

Moody placed the curse on him and told him to jump on the desk. Harry crouched, looking like he were going to do it, but his face contorted. He shook his head, then prepared again to spring. In a move that looked like he was trying both to do it, and _not_ to, he smashed himself headlong into the desk.

A few people laughed, but were cut short at Moody's sharp glare. The professor congratulated Harry, and the class realized what had happened.

"Sanderson, you next," Moody said after calming everyone down.

Clara squeezed my hand one last time, and I steadied myself and walked to the front of the room."

"_Imperio_," Moody growled.

I felt a faint buzzing feeling, but shrugged it off. Oddly, the charm didn't seem to be affecting me like it had with the others.

"Go do pull ups on that window sill."

I walked over to the window sill, then shook my head. Moody repeated himself a few more times, but I felt nothing.

"Go hang on that window sill," Moody tried again.

Then, an odd thing started to happen. I felt an energy tingling inside me as Moody repeated himself, as if the curse had latched on to me, was _inside_ of me somehow. I stared with intensity at the class as I fought the curse, which was affecting me only slightly compared to what I'd seen of my classmates.

Moody stood up as if in a trance, walked to stand next to me, and placed his hands on the window. Then, without a word, he started doing pull ups on the windowsill.

There were gasps around the classroom, and Clara shot me a warning glance, but I had no idea what was going on.

"Professor?" I said sharply. "Professor Moody?"

He continued doing pull-ups as if he didn't hear me.

"Professor Moody, please stop. STOP."

He blinked a few times, then removed himself from the wall. "But…" he stammered. "But… you're the youngest in the class by far. How…?

He looked faint. "Class dismissed," he said quickly. "Thomas, Weasley, you will test next week. Good day."

And with that he gathered up his things and _clunked_ out of the room.

* * *

I skipped Transfiguration, opting instead to take a long nap in the Hufflepuff hidden room. I didn't know what I had done, but it didn't feel good. I still felt that buzz of energy, as if the curse had never been lifted. Which, I guess, it hadn't, since it didn't affect me the same way. I instructed Clara to find Professor Sprout after our Transfiguration class and bring her here, because I didn't want to think about what had happened with anyone but Clara and Sprout at the moment. Although our Gryffindor friends had been impressed, I didn't even feel like Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville would understand what I was going through at this moment.

I must have fallen asleep and slept deeply, because Clara was shaking my shoulders to wake me up.

"Hey. McGonagall wants you to come in over the weekend, because the lesson we covered today is tricky for me or anyone to explain. I mean, Tomasz probably could, but he's not in the class anymore."

I smiled warily. "Where's Pomona?" I said groggily. "I mean, uh, Professor Sprout, since we're here and not, you know...?"

Clara's face fell. "She had to meet with Moody and Snape because Moody wanted to work on a certain plant he wants to use with his NEWT students. She said to go to dinner, and she'll come to the Slytherin common room tonight, unless you plan on sleeping over."

I groaned inwardly. "_Moody's_ the one keeping us apart? That doesn't seem suspicious to you?"

Clara frowned. "You don't trust him, do you?"

"I don't know. Something just seems off. Like he's not who he says he is, you know."

Clara nodded thoughtfully. "I agree," she said after a minute. "I mean, all that stuff with Draco, and Neville, and you. Also, Nico says he senses something about him that reminds him of Daedalus or something. Someone who's cheated death, though not exactly in the same way."

"_What_? When did he tell you this?"

"I don't know, a few weeks ago? You were with Gill, I think."

I was a little hurt that she and Nico were talking about important demigod and wizard things without me, but Gill had been taking up a lot of my time lately. It seemed he felt he needed to apologize for his jealous behavior at Diagon Alley, or maybe make up for his assumptions Nolan had told me about. We took lots of walks around the castle grounds during breaks, and I eagerly awaited our first Hogsmeade visit, where Gill had already promised to shower me in gifts. I don't consider myself vain, but I looked forward to spending the day with him and exploring the shops. I knew Clara and Sandra considered his behavior a little clingy, and it was odd at times, but I appreciated his actions.

Thinking about Gill and Sandra made me more excited for dinner. "Do you mind if I sit at the Slytherin table tonight? Alone, I mean? I kind of want to put this behind me, and surround myself with people who didn't see what happened."

Clara nodded. "I kind of expected you'd say that. I wanted to hang out with Kat and Rebecca anyway. But I'll be there if you need anything.

I gave her my first real smile since class. Having a friend like her, who always had my back, was the best gift I could ask for.

* * *

"There she is, the woman of the hour!" Gill beamed as he pulled out the chair next to him. "A most powerful thirteen year old witch!"

He, Sandra, Tomasz, Daphne, Tracey, Lily, Astoria, Blaise, and Theo were grinning expectantly at me. A bit further away, Draco looked amused, and Pansy was scowling darkly. Next to her, Kaylee, Ariana, and Morgana were watching me like hawks, sizing me up.

My stomach lurched. "What's going on?" I muttered.

"I mean, even perfect Harry Potter couldn't do what you did," Gill continued excitedly. "Amazing."

Sandra caught sight of my expression. "Renee, are you okay?"

"I just…" I couldn't reveal anything, not to this group. "How did you find out so quickly?"

My friends stared at me for a minute. "Draco told me," Daphne said finally. "Apparently, Pansy overheard Lavender Brown and Philippa Blake from Gryffindor complaining about you being better than them, and she complained to Draco about it, of course, as well as anyone who would listen-"

"But Moody made _her_ perform the chicken dance in front of the whole class yesterday, and it was hilarious, so of course she'd be a little upset," Tracey interrupted, and the fourth years all chuckled, except for Theo, who snorted into his cup.

"Draco wouldn't tell Pansy this, of course," Daphne continued, "but you could see he was kind of proud and I think that's why he told me. He wanted you to know your friends here are proud of you. I hope that got you at least a few house points for it."

"So tell us everything," Gill said. "We want to hear it from you, baby."

"Oh, I, uh… er…"

"Do you mind if I borrow Renee for a sec?"

Everyone looked up, startled. Draco hardly ever came to our side of the table, and if he did, it was to say something nasty. We may have been friends, and it seemed like he was at least getting to know Daphne and maybe Blaise better, but most of the people in my year refused to accept him.

Gill stood up as if he had been shocked, knocking his glass all over Astoria across from him. "You most certainly can_not_ 'borrow' Renee, what do you think she is, some kind of object? A commodity? Besides, she's mine."

Sandra and Tomasz exchanged a glance, and then Sandra stood up as well, much more gracefully than Gill had. "Actually, Gill, I believe that's Renee's choice. You can't really defend women against objectification and then claim them as 'yours' in the same sentence."

Draco looked uncomfortable. "I didn't mean-"

I rose to my feet, not wanting my friends to argue about me as if I wasn't even there. "Yeah. Where to?"

"You're just going to let him lead you away?"

"Gill, my man, chill, okay?" Tomasz said, rolling his eyes. "Can't you see your girl is uncomfortable with all this?"

"Just go," Lily mouthed from across the table, and Sandra nodded. I started walking away.

"What's up?" I asked once we reached a quiet area.

"Is your boyfriend always like that? You know what, never mind. It's none of my business."

"No, it really isn't. I assume that's not what you wanted to talk about, though."

"No. Sorry, it wasn't. I just, well, you didn't seem that comfortable back there. Did you… were you not _trying_ to resist the Imperius curse?"

I stared at the floor.

"Was it your you-know what?" Draco pressed. "Did it help you resist?"

"I have no idea," I snapped. "Listen, Draco, I didn't resist at all. My body acted like I was going to do it, and then I just repelled it back on him. One minute I was sort of trying to resist, but I didn't feel anything, you know? And then the next thing I know, Moody is doing exactly what he asked me to do, and I've got all this _energy_ inside me, like the curse latched on to me… oh gods, Draco, only Clara knows about this, the others have only guessed… please don't tell anyone, Draco, please."

Draco put his hand on my shoulder. "Renee, please. Calm down. You know I won't tell anyone. But isn't this a good thing? I mean, it basically means you're immune, doesn't it? Immune to one of the worst curses in the world, and not even something you had to build up to? I mean, that's amazing. _And_ you're already better than pretty-boy Potter and the mudblood at something in that class, without even trying."

"Don't refer to Hermione that way!" I snapped. "And yes, that is good, but if enemies were to find that out… _Styx_!"

"What?"

"If Pansy knows, than Kaylee, Ariana, and Morgana likely know as well. And they're smart enough to figure that out, even if Pansy isn't. I need to go warn Clara and Sprout!"

"But-"

"Not a word, Draco," I hissed.

I moved away from our isolated corner, making my way toward the Hufflepuff table. Clara was mid-bite on a piece of chicken.

"We have to go, _now_," I insisted.

"What?"

"She's right," said a voice behind me. "We need to make a plan, because things are about to get ugly. All four of us are going to find Professor Sprout."

Clara and I turned to stare as Draco and Nico appeared behind us.

* * *

_**A/N: Well, that's a chapter. I didn't really know where I was going with this, and originally expected this to be the Durmstrand and Beauxbatons chapter, but clearly that didn't happen.**_

_**I'm not sure what I'm going to do with "Moody." Clearly the girls don't trust him, but I don't want to put anything forth too permanently from the beginning, otherwise it unfolds too easily.**_

_**As always, please review. Thanks for reading (Ana I'm talking to you because you're the only one I actually expect is reading this. Ily.)**_

_**~Celia**_


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